Music Lessons in Lincoln, CA

Instruments: Piano Voice

For children, I begin with Donald Waxman's Pageant for Piano series. The pieces are quite fun, and also good for technique. The illustrations also offer many opportunities for story-making and engagement. For adults, I begin with James Bastien's The Older Beginner Piano course, and for intermediate learners, supplement it with pieces from Bartok's Mikrokosmos, Czerny, Kabalevsky, Burgmuller's 24 Etudes, duets and various other literature as appropriate. Improvisational skills may also be taught. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar

When it comes to teaching, I find the most important thing is that we work towards the goal of what the student wants to learn - in the case of their preferred styles/genres of music, and the songs that they really enjoy. Every student has their own individual skill level and pace that can be developed and worked around. First, I would find out the level of skill and musical interests of the student, then I would create a lesson plan utilizing all of the tools at my disposal - both from my personal experience and from other educational sources, such as: Blues books, Rock books, Classical guitar/piano books, theory books, and tablature books, or music from popular bands. Read More

Instruments: Piano Flute

It's important to me to cater my teaching style to each student. Not all students learn the same way so its not a one size fits all.  Some of my students need more pressure and more practice and want to have more material and others like a more laid back approach. I will spend the first 1-3 lessons to figuring out what your preferred learning method is, what the problem areas are, and what kind of books, tools, and games I should prepare for the rest of our classes. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice Trombone

For three years I was a camp counselor in the La Honda Music Camp (Hayward, CA). As a counselor, I looked after 10-12 middle school-aged girls, oversaw brass sectionals, coached trombone, and assisted in the junior wind ensemble. In high school I used to coach my classmates in the trombone section. In my grad school years I began to teach beginning piano and trombone. My hope when teaching music is that the kids have a lot of fun learning their instrument, so I always encourage them to learn songs they'd like to sing/play along to. Read More

Instruments: Piano Flute

For young students, we'll start our first few lessons with rhythm and singing games to break the ice. These games also help train the ear. For flute students, we will then progress to the basics of breathing, tone production, note fingerings, and music reading. Once we reach the point where the student can read and play simple tunes, we will start using Trevor Wye's Beginner's Book for the Flute. For teenage and adult students, we'll discuss your goals in our first meeting and go from there, whether those goals are learning to play for your own enjoyment, or preparing to apply for college and/or summer music programs. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice Organ Synthesizer Keyboard

If you’ve tried and failed, or even if you’ve never touched a piano, Smiley can teach you. And, you’ll have fun doing it because with my easy approach to learning, you will start playing the songs you like from day one, not practicing endless scales all the time, and boring music language that would be difficult to understand the first day. With my easy learning how to play approach, you would lean your first song and be able to play it, over and over until you learn a new song to share. Read More

Instruments: Piano

I started learning piano when I was 6 years old in my hometown Sendai, Japan. By the time of my graduation from the primary school, my first piano teacher asked me if I am willing to taking piano lessons in order to enter a conservator of music. If so, she would introduce her piano teacher who was a renowned pianist to me. After 3 months of testing period, I could become her student. Read More