Music Lessons in East Rochester, NY

Instruments: Guitar Saxophone Music Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

My teaching style is fairly simple. Whatever the student wants to learn, I will do my best to teach them how to take and conquer each step to get there. I never really had any formal music lessons until college, but I know that when I had a teacher, I wished that I could just learn what I wanted to learn. I want my students to feel absolutely comfortable when we're in a lesson. Read More

Instruments: Violin Cello Viola Double Bass

My teaching career began as a high school senior. I began taking time out of lunch and weekends to teach friends and beginners to play. It was such a joy that I continued that pattern through university and then jumped on the opportunity to start my own studio after graduating. My business included a music store studio space and traveling to some students' homesteaching violin, viola, cello, double bass, piano, guitar and even ukulele! Read More

Instruments: Guitar Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

I began teaching electric guitar and bass in high school. My approached involved a degree of a musical philosophy. Sometimes we would go outside and listen to the sounds of the train going by, the wind, the birds, cars etc in an almost meditative approach to learn to appreciate that music is all around us. We catch the musical wind with the sails of our instruments when we improvise. I also taught beginner's upright bass at a music camp. Read More

Instruments: Piano

For young students starting piano lessons for the first time, I recommend either Bastien or Hal-Leonard method books. I also encourage the development of aural skills, rhythm, and note reading through games and listening assignments. I develop technique from the upper arm down, starting with muscles that are larger and easier to control. For adults, I cater my lessons and teaching to the needs of each student. I encourage being intellectually curious and experimental in approach to piano playing. Read More

Instruments: Trumpet Saxophone Flute

I will work with each student to help them understand the fundamentals of jazz, for example, knowing major scales, minor scales, and all of the modes that we typically see in most jazz repertoire. For students that are more advanced we will work on learning how to play over common chord progressions and learn how to play songs found in the Great American Songbook. For students at a higher level, we can work on cementing more advanced techniques such as how to play over chord substitutions. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Music Keyboard Acoustic Guitar

Again it's really dependent on the skill level and familiarity with certain aspects of music / music theory. I try to focus on one thing at a time, to gauge how well the student is absorbing and see how well my teaching methods are working. Knowing what the notes are and where they are comes first, before anything. Once they have a solid grasp on that, I can start to teach chords and scales in C and explain the concept of tonality (if needed). Read More

Instruments: Saxophone

For beginning students who are children, I typically start with Hal Leonard's Essential Elements as well as learn the basic techniques on how to play the saxophone. 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, regardless of their ability level. Read More