Music Lessons in Los Altos, CA

Instruments: Drums

Technique: grip, stroke methods, posture, symmetry, breathing, set up. Rudiments: with and without metronome, increasing tempo by 5 bpm, great way to warm up for any lesson. Beats/Rhythms/Styles: rock, pop, jazz, funk, hip hop, reggae, Arab, African + more. Genre/style identifiers and characteristics. Independence: hands and feet exercises for fluidity and freedom of expression. Orchestration and Arrangement: utilizing the variety of percussion instruments available at the studio to demonstrate rhythms and sounds. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Voice

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. If they are children beginners, they can begin with simple chords, a strum and a C scale. Over time more chords, fuller strumming rhythms and understanding how chords come from scales is introduced. With more advanced players, depending on the style that they want to play, they can learn more advanced chords and progressions, licks and fills, and creating intros and endings and generally sculpting the songs. Read More

Instruments: Piano Cello Keyboard

I try to balance the needs of my students and work to strengthen their musical weaknesses for example working on Vibrato or bow distribution. Usually, I like to spend 10 minutes warming up both hands with long tones, scales, arpeggios, and other fun exercises. During the next 30 minutes, we tend to focus on fixing issues relating to the music such as rhythms or intonation issues. In the last 20 minutes of the lesson I tend to focus on musicality and finding inspiration to give to my students so they can exploit their potential. Read More

Instruments: Guitar

I use a variety of books, recordings, and online resources for all levels- transcriptions of classicstylesand newer artists , scale and chordreference books, solo pieces for different genres,beginning guitarmethods bytraditional publishers such as Hal Leonard and Warner Bros. plus newer books. Online video and audio content andrecording software such as garageband arealso valuable resources to work with.Learning to read and write music opens up great potential for communication and creativity- theory and improvisation are other topics that I like to teach. Read More

Instruments: Voice

Soprano Elizabeth P. sings and teaches in the San Francisco Bay area. She received a Bachelor of Music from Gettysburg College and a Master of Music from Duquesne University. A talented performer, Elizabeth captivates audiences with her graceful yet commanding stage presence. She has been featured twice as a soloist with the Accordion Pops Orchestra at Philadelphias prestigious Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. She has premiered three song cycles by American composer Stephen Senderoff, entitled Spoon River Songs, Old American Songs, and Exits. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Music Electric Guitar Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar

My musical journey started at a very young age. I would get up and put on my 45's and set up my metal TV tray with pots and pans and away I would go playing the drums along with the records. At 6 my school had a demonstration of instruments. I went home and exclaimed to my parents that I wanted to play Saxophone. After seeing the price they asked if I wanted a guitar. Read More

Instruments: Clarinet

My start in music was unexpected; I was set on a life in academia as a literature student when an honor band experience late in high school led me to swerve into a life in performing music. My teachers early on were very accepting and generous with me, as a student with vastly less experience than his peers, but I consumed their teaching ravenously. As a teacher, I began teaching young students as a summer job during my undergrad and later worked as a section coach for concert band clarinet sections in the Puget Sound area; during my graduate degree, I gave undergrads informal, routine lessons at their request, to supplement their own lesson experience. Read More