Voice Lessons in San Quentin, CA

Instruments: Piano Voice

I have been teaching private voice for three years, and feel like I truly thrive when I'm sharing my knowlege of music and performance. At Colorado State University I taught a to wide range of students and styles from freshmen voice majors, choral conducting graduate students, theater majors, voice minors, and even a couple aspiring folk/country singers! I also taught a Fundamentals of Music Theory course to over 100 non-music majors, covering reading music, piano basics, intro to harmony, the physics of music and the psychology of music. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Voice

I have taught guitar throughout my career, working with beginners through advanced students, teaching both finger-style and flatpick techniques as well as why the chords fit together (music theory). I like to teach lessons that move step-by-step, with each lesson building on the one before, so that the student can see the improvement as they move ahead. I recently published the guitar instruction manual "Sounding Good on One Guitar". In college my singing won scholarships and awards where I helped singers develop character for their roles in opera productions. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice

My method is to incorporate proper technique and fingering, and though reading music is important, i also put emphasis on hearing what your playing and also understanding it theoretically. This way students will be well-rounded and be able to understand what they are playing from an audio and theoretical stance, rather than just being told what to play by the notes on the sheet music. What this does is it allows the student to become independent so that they don't have to rely on music and a teacher to be able to play or pick-up songs they desire to play. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice

I have found that this helps the student to progress more quickly and gain a true love of music. I also like to have my students work on a wide variety of repertoire, even if they would like to specialize in only one field. Coming from a liberal arts college,I find that having a specialty while also being well versed in other fields as well is important to a successful music study. Read More

Instruments: Voice

I prefer to take on students who are considered "intermediate" or at least working toward the intermediate level and advance because I specialize in developing a singer's performance quality. It's important that the student has basic vocal technique training prior to training with me because they'll have a technical foundation and sense of confidence that will allow them to explore (or as I like to call it "play") more of their vocal capabilities. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice

Since my teaching philosophy is that every piano lesson should be fun, I tailor each lesson according to the student's age and interests. For young beginners, I choose method books that contain fun songs. I also teach music theory through story telling. For older students, I tailor each lesson according to their interests.However, I encourage them to learn Classical music, so that students develop good musicality. My goal is that all my students enjoy music for the rest of their lives. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice Ukulele Music Keyboard

Each comes with their own set of creative challenges and goals, and helping them move to a place of satisfaction and joy in music has been the most meaningful kind of work. When I began to learn music as a child, I had no idea how much joy it would bring me, and the musical community I would gain, or the anchor this pursuit would be for me through the difficult seasons that would arise in my life. Read More