Music Lessons in Matawan, NJ

Instruments: Flute

What musical accomplishments are you most proud of?
Actually playing now, after many years not. Recently I sat in with two NY level exemplary musicians and a 16 year old on drums. At 76 I held my own, the pianist said I drove the group on the second tune we did, I'll Remember April. It is all about now for me, and playing better on a personal level. The video attached gives an indication of my present abilities.

Have any of your students won awards or been selected for special honors? How have they succeeded?
Years ago I taught a students who was accepted and played with the All Shore Intermediate Band. As principal my students have won awards in different areas not limited to Monmouth County Volunteers and Teacher Volunteer of the year.

How do I know if my child is ready to start lessons?
Interest is first. Does your child sing songs, preferably with relative pitch? Do they show a sense of rhythm, repeating tapped patterns they hear. Do they talk about music, move to music, indicate a particular instrument or song preference?

What does a normal practice session look like for you?
I have in my older age shied away from the idea of practice, replacing it more with play. A "normal" playing session would be prescribed in notes to the student, yet the student could choose the order - warm ups, technical exercises, scales, and pieces.

Why did you choose your primary instrument?
It was not my choice, and in my opinion, not they way to choose. My dad came home one day with a flute and clarinet. He chose for my brother and me. In high school for a time I played saxophone, and was going to continue later in life but unfortunatley had an injury which impeded my playing ability for many years. Over time I also play, more like use, the piano for compositon and jazz theory and harmony.

What is your dream piece to perform and why?
As an improvisational piece, I am learning Charlie Parker's solo on Koko, which is a rewriting of the tune Cherokee. I am working on tunes I have played - Syrinx by Debussy and Fantasie by Faure.

Does music run in your family? Tell us a little about your musical family members.
Yes. My father was a drummer who played in the Catskills during the Depression, and could play several piano pieces he learned on his own, not limited to Claire de Lune. His father was a cellist who played with Arthur Fiedler in a string quartet in his youth. My grandfather's father was the concert master with the Imperial Orchestra of Kiiv. This family history is documented by photographs and text.

Did you have a teacher that inspired you to go into music? How did they inspire you?
Frances Blaisdell: Ms. Frances Blaisdell was a world class flutist and teacher. I started lessons with her when I was 12, at which time my family then moved to France for a couple of years. Lessons resumed when I was 14, up to my senior year of high school, when we moved to Hawaii, and again on and off while in college at Syracuse and after until Miss Blaisdell moved to California. There she taught flute at Stanford University for the next 35 years. She would send her many students a yearly holiday family newsletter that always had a personal note in it. This was throughout my adult life. Miss Blaisdell best personified what is best in the student teacher relationship. She was a model of what it means to be a truly remarkable teacher and musician where excellence was the expectation, her belief that it was attainable in her students, and her very specific content knowledge and instructional strategies to bring out our excellence. She was modest, kind, specific, encouraging, realistic, and inspiring. Her great dignity was/is rooted in her simple (and yet profound) respect for everyone she knew or met. Miss Blaisdell was also a trailblazer who touched countless thousands and yet she always gave you her full attention when she was with you. She is relatively well known as a teacher and musician, with information about her on Google. Ted Dunbar: Ted Dunbar, a jazz guitarist and educator, was one of the founders of the jazz studies department at Rutgers University, now part of the Mason Gross School of the Arts. I took classes in jazz improvisation at Rutgers when I was in my mid 20s. Ted was also a registered pharmacist. Pharmacy became part time when he devoted his life to performance and teaching. While at Rutgers, Ted played with some frequency at major NYC venues and in Broadway pit bands. Ted was that kind of teacher that was above all inspiring. He also was an interesting role model in that underneath his great creativity was his studious nature and a systematic and sustained knowledge of jazz pedagogy. He was not only a master teacher and improviser but was able to articulate ways that we, his students, could specifically improve. Ted helped not only increase our understanding of jazz improvisation and history, but also sought to help us grow in our understanding of the creative process. He was also a teacher about life choices and suggested philosophers and thinkers that we should read. Ted was imposing and humorous, at times demanding, and other times kind and supportive. My father had passed a couple of years before I started classes with Ted – in some way, although I never told Ted, he helped to fill some of that void I felt in my life. John Frascatore: Mr. Frascatore was my fifth grade teacher. There are several moments that I continue to remember, such as writing to classical music (“La Mer” by Debussy), or putting on plays (“The King and His Creampuffs”), and his reading aloud to us. What I remember most is the sense of community that existed in his classroom and the individual care and attention I sensed even then that Mr. Frascatore showed for every student. For me, a particular memory was a block I had learning long division. I could not have been more frustrated and thought I would never learn how to do this. This, though, was not an option for Mr. Frascatore. I can remember Mr. Frascatore patiently and supportively working with me one on one until I started to understand. With me, and other students, failure was not an option. This was his gentle gift and example in many different ways. I learned later that he had become a principal and director of curriculum and instruction. I did not know until I checked years later that Mr. Frascatore was an Army Air Force World War II veteran, flying 34 missions as a bombardier fighter pilot.

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