Music Lessons in Upper West Side, NY

Instruments: Piano Accordion

I set realistic goals for my students at each lesson. I like to demonstrate how to play- usually I count while the student plays, which helps with the beats. We may sing together or separate the note names or the song words. Every music phase requires different input. Students who struggle with note reading, get additional note reading and writing books. Depending on music difficulty, I prefer to learn the right hand melody first, then left hand. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice

A taped version of my very first "Madama Butterfly", produced by the National Educational Television Network and the Brooklyn Opera Society, was aired on local PBS television in the New York Metropolitan Area. Recently, I was featured as a guest on Focus on Women with Florence Rapaport on Cable Vision in Long Island, NY. The tape of this appearance has been preserved at the Schlesinger Library of Harvard University (Women of the 20th Century in America). Read More

Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar Double Bass Acoustic Guitar

I incorporate different styles of teaching including 'rote learning', which is essentially learning by ear and imitation, as well as uniquely tailored exercises. I incorporate different warm-up etudes that I use with each student to build basic fundamentals of learning the instrument. And I also encourage students to practice scales and drills to develop their muscle memory. I also believe that learning to play an instrument is as much a physical experience as it is a mental one that requires discipline, repetition, hard work, and patience. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice

I graduated with my Bacholers in Music and Pyschology with a focus on opera voice in 2009. In my performance program I really grew as a vocalist and learned how to overcome my own obstacles and improve my vocal technique for myself. I feel confident now in sharing my experience and my education with my students so they are able to really grow and improve as well. I started professionally and privately studying vocal technique when I was 17 and prior to that I was performing musical theater in school and in community performance groups. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice Violin Saxophone Bassoon

I like my lessons to be fun! I like to start my lesson with a "music swap": we each play one minute of a song that we found that week from youtube or spotify and take 30-60 seconds to say why we found it interesting or inspiring (it can be any genre). We then aim to discuss and practice a new technical skill and use exercises to develop it, we work on a song from the method series or a song that the student wants to work on (I often transpose pop/rock songs for my students), and then rhythm training, ear training, and music theory concepts are interspersed throughout. Read More

Instruments: Piano Drums Bass Guitar Double Bass Oboe English Horn Music

My teaching style is aimed at helping my students express themselves through music, and enjoy playing their instruments. The starting point for this is learning the basics (scales, long tones, arpeggios, etc), but I also encourage my students to improvise and allow themselves to freely play their instrument in a joyful way. I also help them learn pieces and styles that they love. Through working on all of these aspects of being a musician, and encouraging them to take performance opportunities, I help my students to really find their own voice on their instrument. Read More

Instruments: Voice

My teaching experience dates back to my college days and my first vocal pedagogy class. We were all assigned a non-singer to teach and I won't lie, I was very nervous taking on my first student. However, once we got going I fell in love with teaching and have been doing it on and off for 5 years. I do my best to maintain a positive attitude in voice lesson and strive to teach based on a solid foundation of healthy technique. Read More