Music Lessons in Castro Valley, CA

Instruments: Piano Organ

I try my very best to avoid criticism, encourage curiosity, and open doors at every lesson. Constant criticism can put a permanent damper on a student's love of music. Exploration can lead to a lifetime of enjoyment! In the Photo Gallery above, the first pic is of David, age 6-1/2, playing organ for the first time. He has been watching me play during a church service, so I offered to show him a few things. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Trumpet Trombone Euphonium Tuba Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar

I am an experienced trombonist and teacher with degrees from the New England Conservatory and California State University at East Bay (MA in Music anticipated Fall 2020). I have been teaching since the 1990s, and performing all over the world since the early 2000s. My primary instrument is on trombone, but have had students on tuba, euphonium, and beginning trumpet as well. My performance experience is primarily in the jazz, pop, and rock genres, but am conservatory-trained and well-equipped to prepare young students to enter the classical world as well. Read More

Instruments: Saxophone Clarinet

My style of teaching also varies greatly with each individual. Some students have specific music from school or from outside music groups that they want to learn and also need to learn the skills to be able to play that particular music. Other students come with a desire just to improve their current abilities, and we find ways to do that by choosing inspiring music together. Sometimes playing duets is a great way to do that, and when its not possible to play together in real time I make recordings that the student can enjoy playing with. Read More

Instruments: Guitar

I design my lessons with the specific student goals in mind.For Beginner students: we will start by exploring rhythm concepts and understanding how to read music. Learning the physics of the guitar and exploring the notes in the first few positions. Learning open position chords, and simple chords progressions, major and pentatonic scales,etc.For Intermediate students: we will continue expanding our knowledge of the higher positions of the guitar, as well as develop better sight-reading skills. Read More

Instruments: Violin Viola

My teaching methods are based off of the Franco-Belgian school founded by Vieutemps, Beriot, and Ysaye to name a few. i am also inspired by the methods of Ivan Galamian and his teaching style. For beginners, I will start with basic elements such as the proper way of holding the instrument; this is crucial for later violin development so it must be mastered first. I will also provide lessons on basic Music Theory essential to understanding rhythm, pitch, and reading music. Read More

Instruments: Voice

I encourage all of my students to choose songs that they want to sing to ensure that they are enjoying what they are learning. For children and beginners, it is important that the fundamentals are in place, therefore I tend to spend more time on musicianship skills and music theory. For more advanced students it is important to understand how their unique instrument works, therefore I like to approach technique through pedagogy. Read More