Music Lessons in Canyon, CA

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Drums Conga Latin Percussion

I was raised up in Northern California in the arts of music and dance since a young age of three. I started lessons in Oakland, CA in dance, music and acrobats with Peggy and Leon Valdez and then tap performance and theater arts with Chorlene and Art Duane in Hayward, CA. I became very active in elementary school choirs with music instructor, Ms. Bell. My father was head coach for Oakland Dynamites-Pop Warner in which I would do cheerleading and coordinate field marches. Read More

Instruments: Piano

My students are provided with a solid musical and technical foundation that allows them to feel comfortable in any of the countless musical contexts they will encounter as they embark on a life-long musical journey! Most piano methods books are "C and G-centric," causing students to learn to only feel comfortable playing on the white keys and then become either terrified or bewildered any time there is more than one sharp or flat in the key signature. Read More

Instruments: Saxophone

First and foremost, I believe in HONESTY and RESPONSIBILITY to my students. I remember when I took private lessons many years ago with various teachers and thought that I was pretty good at playing saxophone. It was not until I studied under Dr. Keith Bohm that I realized how horrible those previous teachers were. They were negligent and was not able to provide the essential fundamentals for me as a young musician and thus, I developed many, many, MANY bad habits. 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: Guitar

For young beginners, I usually start with basic theory notions taken from the Lizard Academy books, combined with some exercises on the guitar. Once comfortable, I start to introduce some notions about improvisation and soloing, as well as increase the difficulty of the exercises I want them to practice on. For young adults or adults, I like to take my students in the direction they want to go, besides teaching them something slightly different just to enrich their background. Read More

Instruments: Piano

I like to emphasize learning technique through pieces, rather than practicing only technique on its own, as that can get boring very quickly! For beginning students, I like to start with the Piano Adventures series, which has pieces which are easy, teach basic techniques, but also are musically interesting. Once they have the fundamentals, we can begin working on solo repertoire that interests the student. For older students who are interested in 20th century music, I like to teach Bartok's Mikrokosmos. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Keyboard Acoustic Guitar

I am an Artist who loves to see his students succeed. I have a strong passion for music, and utilize that passion and the skills I've developed throughout my career to cultivate students into fellow Artists. My primary goal as a teacher is to tap into the potential artistry of the students. For that reason, I am not as focused on the technical skills, as I am about spotlighting the inspiration that will facilitate the student to embody the Artist with original expression and purpose in their art form. Read More