Voice Lessons in Upper Saddle River, NJ

Instruments: Voice

The lesson starts with Awareness Through Movement (ATM) applying the Feldenkrais Method to get the student in a state where the mind-body learns new possibilitites of movement, making the body feel more comfortable and expanded. It is a first "tuning" before working directly with the sounding voice. Breathing excercises and vocal technique are to continue. When the student is warmed up, we work in the learning and development of a specific song and/or vocal improvisation. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice Trombone Drums Synthesizer Euphonium Tuba Music Keyboard

For beginning students who are children, I typically start with Hal Leonard's Essential Elements. Once the student has progressed to have a grasp of the fundamentals, I will begin to introduce solo repertoire appropriate for their first recital performance. For adults, I try to find out what the student is interested in, and guide my instruction accordingly to keep the lessons engaging and fun, no matter their ability level. Thank you for taking the time to read this I look forward to working with you. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Keyboard Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

My students ranged in age from 5 to 23, for both piano and guitar. A few years later, I began teaching general music to children aged 3 to 8 at Jersey City Montessori School. After a few months, the parents and the proprietor asked me to teach piano privately to some of the students. I was more than happy to oblige. I continue to teach in Jersey City and Manhattan, and look forward to adding new students to my roster. Read More

Instruments: Voice

Soon I was asked to teach the other dancers to sing as well, and those were my first singing students. I’ve been teaching singing ever since. Even though Musical Theater is my first love, many of my students study a wide variety of music styles and bring personal storytelling skills to all music. They perform at open mics, school showcases, local musicals, churches, and clubs. Several have started touring bands or become professional singers/songwriters with their original songs receiving radio airplay. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice

It is important for both me and my student to have long-term and short-term goals. Long-term goals may have to do with technique--for voice, examples may be releasing tension or singing with proper breath support. Short term goals are more linked to repertoire and can be technical or musical. An example on the piano may be playing through a piece with a particular metronome marking. I have each of my students use a practice log so both the student and I can keep track of short-term goals. Read More

Instruments: Voice

My method of working with the voice is to first get a sense of what the student's goals are. These include both vocal goals and career/performance goals. We will then work together to form a plan to achieve them. This will include exercises tailored directly to the student's vocal needs and desires and guiding the student to repertoire that will both be fun for them to sing and will teach them more about the concepts we are working on. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Drums

But once this stage is mastered, things become much simpler. I start off lessons slowly with simple technical studies where the student can focus specifically on technique to efficiently and confidently. To help support this stage I typically introduce basic note reading skills to acquaint the students with musical notation while introducing them to playing in time. Once the student reaches foundational proficiency we can finally start to have some fun! Read More