Music Lessons in Smithsburg, DC

Instruments: Piano Clarinet Recorder Music

Everyone learns at their own pace. I want every student to make sure they are comftable with all information each week that is being introduced to them. Music should be fun and a way to express yourself. With that being said, every student has different methods that helps them learn material and I don’t want anyone to feel discouraged if they are not understanding at the same speeds as others they may know. Read More

Instruments: Trombone Euphonium

In my teaching, I like to have a strong focus in fundamentals while still fostering an enjoyable and entertaining lesson atmosphere. A solid basis is fundamentals will go strides in the student’s confidence. A well balanced medium between fundamentals and fun and creative learning is where I like to focus my teaching philosophy. I use this balance as a guideline to help my students find joy and happiness in learning their instrument as well as music in general. Read More

Instruments: Drums Conga

For beginning students I usually show them a simple song and teach them how it relates to standard notation and drum set coordination through Ted Reed's Syncopation. Once the student can understand how each of the limbs work and how I will communicate it on a page, we can go over more songs and include other books which detail various beats that are recognizable as well as functional. After fundamental coordination is grasped we can begin to focus on rudiments and the application of certain hand exercises to the drum set to explore possibilities. Read More

Instruments: Voice

For first time students, I immediately begin focusing on the aspect of breath related to the voice. I achieve this by utilizing exercises such as Lip Trills, Tongue rolling, and belly laughs. The is a fun, interesting, and above all effective way to show the student what muscles are working and where. From there, I begin to build upon warmups starting from the simple (e.g. 3-5 note scales) eventually leading to more difficult (e.g. octave runs with triplet passages). Read More

Instruments: Piano Drums Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion Keyboard

That causes both sides of the brain to learn together. I do not rely heavily on exercises or drills, but prefer to find pieces that will musically teach the needed techniques. That being said, I do occasionally use portions of training etudes by Czerny, Isidor Philipp, and others as needed. However, I believe that technically problems and needs almost always have musical answers. Again, for percussion, I also focus on slow training, stick control, and rhythmic exercises. Read More

Instruments: Saxophone Music

My teaching experience dates back to my touring years when I was an active performer. I have more than ten years of formal and informal experience performing, producing, and teaching music. Nowadays I mostly teach and work with music and technology. As mentioned above, I always teach the student to listen first, to appreciate the chosen style or genre and then, reproduce it. I think the most important thing to learn about music is that you need to let it become second nature. Read More