Voice Lessons in Sterling, VA

Instruments: Guitar Voice

- As a foundation principle of the Functional Voice Method communication is essential. There should be a very open and honest dialog between teacher and student. You can, and I encourage my students to ask, propose and work together. - Because posture, movement and breathe have such a mutual influence; we usually need some work or excercise regarding the body (movements envolving legs, arms, walking, jumping and a large etcetera). - Having fun while training is extremely important to me. Read More

Instruments: Voice

Mandy, an active performer and teacher, has been teaching in the Washington DC area for 2 years. In addition to holding a studio in the DC area, Mandy also directs a children's choir and is a part of the classical music scene as a performer. In summer of 2012, Mandy was a studio artist with Chautauqua Opera for their summer season and has a large resume of other operatic performance experience. She has a wide knowledge base of music, but specializes in Classical, Jazz, and Musical Theater. **Photo by Roy Cox Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice

I see myself as a facilitator, helping students discover new elements of music and music theory and building upon those to create a greater understanding of reading and playing music both for piano and voice. Often i will model by playing a song first so that the student cannot not only hear what is sounds like but observe my technique, finger changes, dynamic ranges, tempo and so on. There are many elements to performing a piece besides just playing the correct notes! Read More

Instruments: Voice

I have a deep enthusiasm and excitement for helping young people reach their musical goals. I enjoy helping my students develop knowledge of the vocal apparatus and mechanics of singing and breathing. In the studio I can find examples of or demonstrate vocal techniques and styles. I have found that most students respond well to the use of imagery to extract the emotional component of singing and I find that my flexibility, energy, ability to maintain focus on objectives, and my ability to communicate musical concepts and instructions clearly is essential to getting my students to produce better sounds. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice

We also learn age-appropriate songs, of course. In lessons with young children, everything is play-based. I make learning experiences into games, and we move between activities quickly to accommodate the kids' attention spans and keep them engaged. I gradually shift my focus to technique and more advanced repertoire once the students reach middle school. For high school and adult voice students, we focus primarily on technique and learning repertoire. In an hour-long lesson, we might spend 15 or so minutes warming up and doing technique exercises, 10 or so minutes working on music theory, and the remainder of the lesson working on one or two songs or arias we've picked together. Read More

Instruments: Voice Flute

Ive been teaching privately since fall of 2017, and have taught at a private music school since January 2018. In my two years of teaching, Ive learned the best way to encourage consistent practice is to set realistic short term and long term goals: Finding and pursuing performance opportunities, auditioning for summer camps, preparing a performance for your family, etc. When there is an end goal, we can more clearly plan out what things to focus on in lessons. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Saxophone Bass Guitar Organ Music Keyboard

My teaching methods focus on building on the fundamentals of embodied proficiency with music (not just how to "read what's on the page", but first how to feel and delve into what's happening with all the moving parts and their many relationalities). For both children and adult students, before getting into structures and representations, the starting point will be the embodied feelings and experiences of and around music. In the first lesson, even my absolutely-beginner students will be having fun jamming, exploring and applying newly-learned things before we even talk about what a major scale is. Read More