Music Lessons in Calistoga, CA

Instruments: Violin

I love kids and since I am on the younger side of most violin teachers, I believe I have an advantage of connecting with the students more. When there is a nurturing bond between a teacher and a student, it allows the student to connect more and be more responsive throughout their lesson. One of my teaching styles is making the lesson fun by making jokes, connecting the music to their favorite type of music. Read More

Instruments: Flute

I do not believe in a uniform approach for each person. Being in the right environment means everything for someone who is about to begin learning an instrument, be it his or her first encounter or not. This will manifest differently for each person. First impressions do mean everything in this case and that is why I am proud to say that anyone who has ever formally or informally attempted to find their embouchure with me or in front of me succeeded to find their voice. Read More

Instruments: Piano Flute

In addition to working with standard repertoire and method books, I devise my own exercises to help with breath control, tone production, rhythm, aural skills, and other topics. I dedicate particular time and attention to the areas where I believe each individual student can benefit the most (e.g., tone quality, counting, etc.). For young students, I like to incorporate music games and improvisation into my teaching, both of which help the student develop essential musical skills in a fun, relaxed way. Read More

Instruments: Voice

Vocal coaching as a profession is quite new to me because until just recently I've always focused on my own development as a performer and artist, however, I've often assisted my fellow co-artists, classmates, bandmates, and even friends with improving vocal technique and performance quality. In my college classes, we were encouraged to provide feedback about a classmates performance and I absolutely loved when they would apply my advice and everyone saw a significant improvement in performances thereafter. Read More

Instruments: Piano Flute Music

For beginning students in flute and piano, I use Trevor Wye flute books and Alfred piano books, respectively. These books cover fundamentals and hand technique and once that is learned and internalized, then I will introduce more solo or accompanied repertoire that they would eventually perform in a recital. For beginning composition students (which are taught remotely on Zoom), I will go over different "lectures" about fundamental music theory and integrate short composition assignments that go according to what was learned in the lesson. Read More

Instruments: Piano Music Keyboard

For beginning students who are children, I typically start with Faber's Piano Adventures or Suzuki's Piano School, however I am open to other books. Faber focuses more on written and piano practice whereas Suzuki focuses on auditory learning and piano practice. 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. Read More

Instruments: Drums Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion Latin Percussion

i've been playing drums for 17 years. I am originally from New York where I worked as a drummer, educator, and then a professional in the music products industry. I graduated from Five Towns in 2009 with a bachelors degree in Jazz Commercial Music. Durning my time in college I expanded my musical palette adding swing, Latin, concert mallet percussion, drumline, and afro-cuban. I was also working with 3 original bands touring the trio-state area and releasing independent albums. Read More