Piano Lessons in El Monte, CA

Instruments: Saxophone

If you have a Music Degree, what is it in (Performance, Education, Musicology, Theory, Composition, etc) and why did you choose that degree?
I have a Bachelor of Music degree from Western Connecticut State University in Jazz Saxophone Performance. Before I attended WCSU, I was in a classically oriented program at a liberal arts college and I found it to be stifling creatively. I greatly respect the classical saxophone tradition, but as a tenor player I found that there was a lack of interesting tenor repertoire that I was able to play. By pursuing a jazz performance degree, I found that it gave me more than enough time to practice what I was interested in while giving me a lot of time to perform outside of school and make my network bigger.

What musical accomplishments are you most proud of?
There are a few that come to mind. One of the most prominent is the first time I performed a composition that I wrote in front of an audience. The feeling of being able to share my work with people while playing with a great band was indescribable. Another proud accomplishment of mine was performing with one of my longtime heroes Orrin Evans at a concert while I was a student at WCSU. Orrin is one of my absolute favorite musicians and being able to play with him was truly a blessing. Finally, winning the Jazz Chamber Group portion of the 2016 James Furman Concerto Competition. I was placed in a great combo with some of my best friends, and being able to win while we were just being ourselves felt great.

Did you have a teacher that inspired you to go into music? How did they inspire you?
I actually have had a few teachers who have inspired me to be a musician full time. The first was one of my saxophone teachers in high school, John Lowery. John taught at a summer camp I attended, and he introduced me to some of the older jazz records that helped me shape my concept of how to play the saxophone. The second was Mike DiRubbo, who taught me while I was at working Litchfield Jazz Camp in college. At this stage I was feeling very unmotivated about pursuing music as a career and I wasn't practicing as much as I should have been. Mike gave me a tough love speech about how I wasn't doing myself any favors by not trying my hardest, and that all the natural talent I had wouldn't help me if I wasn't willing to work hard. This was the wake-up call I needed to start studying music with everything I had.

When will I start to see results?
This greatly depends on the student and how much they practice on a daily basis. If a student is highly motivated to learn and they practice consistently on a daily basis and they grasp the material, you could see results in as little as 1 or 2 weeks. For some students, there will be some difficulties with certain topics or with finding the time to practice, so the process will take a bit longer. It's important to be patient and understanding with each student while they try to find their way. It's a marathon, not a sprint.

What advice do you have about practicing effectively?
I find that splitting the allotted time I have to practice into 3 topics helps me tackle the most important elements of the saxophone: sound, technique, and music. For example, let's say I have 1 hour to practice some things before I leave for work. By following the "rule of 3", I have 20 minutes for sound, 20 minutes for technique, and 20 minutes for music. I'd probably divide it up like this Sound: 10 minutes of longtones with a tuner, 5 minutes of overtone exercises, and 5 minutes of altissimo practice. Technique: 5 minutes of working on triad patterns, 10 minutes of scales in 3rds, and 5 minutes on arpeggios. Music: 10 minutes working on a melody for a tune, 5 minutes on a transcription, and 5 minutes on an etude. By doing this, I've covered a wide variety of topics in just 1 hour.

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