Music Lessons in Mount Baldy, CA

Instruments: Voice

My approach to singing comes from the Bel Canto school of singing. Bel Canto is Italian for beautiful singing and while I was trained this way, I believe in meeting students at their vocal level and build from there. I dont subscribe to the one size fits all method because we all perceive our voices very differently. Throughout my university years, I had some teachers who got frustrated when they instructed me to sing a certain way that I could not understand and I never want my students to be confused or feel misunderstood during our lessons. Read More

Instruments: Piano Saxophone Flute Clarinet

I like to play audio/recordings for the students when possible, so that the student has an idea of the style, or the piece that we are studying.  This gives them something to reference to, but also gives them an aural aspect in their playing/practice habits. I also model for them constantly, so that they get more visual and aural reinforcement.  I sometimes give them short music concept/vocabulary assignments, such as learning the names of the notes on the staff, counting rhythms, meters, etc; all having to do with music theory and musical concepts that can be directly applied to their practical aspect of playing. Read More

Instruments: Voice

When I teach, I treat you like a colleague and I require your full attention during the 30-60 min class. Singing takes a lot of discipline, sweat and abdominal work (for the high notes). If you are aiming for the stars, you need to be trained like one. I can make you understand how voice projection works, so you know how to best use your voice and protect it. Every student progresses at their own pace. Read More

Instruments: Drums

For beginner, start with simply touching every part of Drum set, thus students can see how it sounds like, and how fun it is to simply hit the drums. After that I would start with hand technique, which is 3 basic stroke patter, and how to apply them to every part of Drum set. For Advanced beginners, I would start from getting touch with rudiments, and sight reading so that student will have well rounded skills, over all good drummer so to say. Read More

Instruments: Drums

I am not following any style of system, other than the best of what I have picked up myself, along the way. And I have explored many different systems of drumming, both theoretically and practically, in professional situations. I usually don't refer to any specific published drum books and use my own photo copied exercises and material I have collected over the years. I will normally find just the right exercise and pass it on to my students and spend some time with them working it out. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice

For beginner students, I start with the fundamentals of music and we work our way up to integrating repertoire that they will eventually be able to perform in recitals and shows! I am a very flexible teacher and I understand firsthand that to remain interested in learning music, a student needs to feel included in the choices regarding what they are working on. With that in mind, I like to use both repertoire that a student has brought in, and repertoire that I choose very carefully to suit a particular student's strengths and challenges. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice Keyboard

I'm a passionate musician that has over 25 years of professional experience in the music industry. I was born and raised into four generations of gospel singing back in Arkansas. My professional career began as a backup vocalist and keyboardist for Prince back in 1999. I recorded countless studio material such as "Rave n2 the Joy Fantastic" and "Musicology" and toured the world with him for over 17 years. Since then, I've produced music for artists such as Eminem, Dr Dre, and Eric Bent just to name a few. Read More