Music Lessons in Belleville, NJ

Instruments: Violin Viola Electric Violin Fiddle Acoustic Guitar

Music can be a very intimate practice. To share, create and collaborate can be challenging if not fostered in the beginning of musical education. Lending students a safe and educational place to create can lead to great confidence that spans all areas of life and study. Because of this, I encourage involvement in the community where possible. For instance, I most recently had my violin students collaborate with the local youth guitar orchestra to perform a small concert series. Read More

Instruments: Piano Violin Cello Viola Keyboard

I believe in teaching future string musicians there is only one way to make the best sound and teaching how to do this from the beginning. I want the students to understand how their instrument works by demystifying the mechanics. Once the student knows how to use the instrument, they can then discover the music and their voice in the music. For string instruments, I use the Suzuki books and Artistry in Strings method. Read More

Instruments: Piano Flute Recorder Piccolo

My greatest accomplishment in teaching over the years has been to help students enjoy the music that they really want to play. This takes a great deal of devotion and research into finding the resources that students need to find the music they love best. I am a firm believer in a positive approach to teaching, concentrating not on mindless rote repetition, but on the artistic method where students can learn to improve and always make the music more and more impressive. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Acoustic Guitar

For begginers, being adults or children, I always start with a set of easier musics that don't include very hard chords, but that may interest the person in what they're doing. The only difference between the children and the adult would be the guitar size and the amount of practicing and how often they need to practice. The key point is to have fun during the lessons to stimulate practicing every so often so that no matter how hard the songs are they can do it. Read More

Instruments: Voice

My studio is a place to sound bad. It's a place to make as many mistakes as possible. Your voice may crack, you may hate the way it sounds in your head, but good practice involves failure. If you are in my studio, you are here to work. Practice is not necessarily fun. Everyone wants to leave their first lesson belting for the rafters, but we won't go there until you're ready- it might only ingrain poor habits and set you up for failure down the road. Read More

Instruments: Trumpet Trombone Euphonium French Horn Tuba

Students will always start with fundamentals to ensure a steady foundation. The exact materials may vary, but I usually create the specific exercises that students need to work on week to week. Each part of their individual practice session will have an 'aim' for students to focus on while they are playing. By teaching thoughtful practice, students can avoid wasted practice time and find success at more frequent intervals. Songs, solos, or etudes will be added in on a regular basis and focus on a technique the student is currently working on. Read More

Instruments: Piano

I tend to incline towards George Molineux's premise of imagery and teaching. Constructing my own philosophy of music teaching. For children I tend to start with posture, positioning of the hands, rounded fingers and finger notation. I understand that Molineux's teaching methods are of the 19th centurybut they are still relevant today in how we perceive music. We watch TV with music, we access our smart devices and play music, we play computer games with music. Read More