Music Lessons in Castle Rock, MN

Instruments: Guitar Drums Bass Guitar

My loveof music began at a young age through playing piano, percussion, and guitarand continued to grow throughout my years of schooling. I graduated from Metropolitan State University of Denver in May of 2013 with my Bachelor of Music degree with a Concentration in Music Composition. I have since been spreading my knowledge of music throughoutmy local community through teaching, playing, and composition. I have released twomusic albums, one in 2011 andthe other in 2013,in which Iplayed percussion, drum set, guitar, bass guitar,keyboard, and sang while also recording, electronically programming,composing, and producing the albums myself.I have been building my studiofor over eight years and have acquired many pieces of equipment that help me teach, compose, play, and produce music. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar

My teacher was very encouraging and always believed me, and I try to be that person for my students. There are lots of different types of guitar players and songwriters, so what I like to do is tailor each curriculum to the individual student's ability, goals, and taste in music. Working out of a book is fine in some cases, but I have found that expecting everyone to learn from the same method doesn't always work. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Electric Guitar Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar

My earliest musical memories were of Led Zeppelin, Guns 'n' Roses, and Jimi Hendrix. When I started taking guitar lessons at eleven years old, I pursued the powerful distorted guitar riffs from my classic rock idols. After learning about jazz in high-school, I began to seek out knowledge of every genre of music. McNally-Smith helped me tremendously. I joined a wide range of ensembles, from blues to indie-rock, classical to gypsy jazz. Read More

Instruments: Violin

My first priority is creating a safe and fun environment where students can ask questions, and set goals that are realistic to their needs. We work together to find imagery and methods of practice that work for each individual student, and make weekly notes in a "lesson plan" notebook. By helping students identify and set their own goals and helping them identify their own understanding of the practice methods, I am encouraging critical thinking and practice discipline, which I find more efficient long-term than enforcing my own home-practice techniques and goals. Read More

Instruments: Trombone Euphonium Tuba

I am a freelance trombonist and composer in the Twin Cities area, performing across a wide variety of genres, including classical, jazz, pop, and latin music. I graduated in 2012 with a degree in Music Performance from Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minnesota, where I studied with Rick Gaynor and Dr. Jeremy Kolwinska. Prior to college I studied trombone under John Tranter. I have participated in master classes with former Boston Symphony Orchestra bass trombone Doug Yeo, current Minnesota Orchestra principal trombonist Doug Wright, and Tom Ashworth, the trombone instructor from the University of Minnesota. Read More

Instruments: Saxophone Flute Clarinet

I strive to get all of my students to understand not just how to play music, but how to learn how to play music-similar to the old adage "give a man a fish and he can eat today, but teach a man to fish and he can feed himself for the rest of his life". I use a open school-style philosophy of teaching, which revolves around exploration of the music (trial and error, in a sense), as well as encouraging the students to be self-reflective, self-critical, and to ask as many questions as they want to in order to understand each musical concept within the confines of his/her individual learning style. Read More