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24 Years
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Here are just a few of the many teachers offering Piano lessons in Orinda . Whether you are looking for beginner guitar lessons for your kids, or are an adult wanting to improve your skills, the instructors in our network are ready to help you now!
Instruments: Piano Keyboard
My teaching experience begins from my college time til now. I personally love to play modern and classical music. Keep practicing and listening to different style of music is my focus to my students. Regular practice, like playing 30 to 45 minutes everyday, can lead to huge progress of learning piano. I will encourage intermediate to advanced students to the level that they want to achieve in playing piano. I will keep encouraging my students to play songs they love and so from there they will have motivation of practicing piano by themselves daily. Read More
Instruments: Piano Ukulele Keyboard Acoustic Guitar
For my young piano students, I use the structure of the Faber series to slowly introduce concepts. For my guitar students I have had great success with the Mel Bay series, which combines initial chord playing and some music reading fundamentals. For ukulele, I utilize the Hal Leonard service. With all of my students, I always want to have the students choose songs they like and that they can set as realistic goals. Read More
Instruments: Piano Guitar Flute Drums Ukulele Recorder Piccolo Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion Conga Latin Percussion Music Keyboard Acoustic Guitar
I learn by doing and I believe that my students should play what inspires them! If it's classical, let's study Bach and Mozart together - if it's Latin, let's study Dave Valentin and Johnny Pacheco. I have always had a broad taste in music and I think it's wonderful when students bring me songs that inspire them. Let's work the chords out together and study the greats! I believe that the engaged student will be the successful student. Read More
Instruments: Piano Flute Piccolo
For beginning students, I place a large emphasis on the fundamentals i.e. scales, chord progressions etc. I also start them on solo pieces and like them to choose the pieces they are working on. I believe that if they choose their repertoire then they will have greater love and enthusiasm for the music. I also encourage them to push beyond what they think they can do. I work hard to match my teaching style to the needs of each and every student. Read More
Instruments: Piano Clarinet
Playing piano is my greatest reward in life, being able to bring a smile to a face of any age. After graduating from Cal Poly with a concentration in performance and theory, I was musical director of The Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville theater. I was able to broaden my horizons performing, teaching, composing and arranging all different styles of music.and can even play piano upside down now! I was also music director of a local Christian church which has enabled me to become proficient in sacred/praise music as well. Read More
Instruments: Piano Drums Organ Synthesizer
Hi, I am a pianist, composer, teacher, and multi-instrumentalist originally from upstate New York. I am passionate about all of the above, but I consider teaching to be the most immediately rewarding. In 2008 I completed my degree in music at the State University of New York in Fredonia. Shortly afterwards, I made a journey to the west coast and found a home in the SF bay area. I got involved in the vibrant music scene as quick as possible and played with as many different types of musicians as I could find. Read More
Instruments: Piano Saxophone Flute Clarinet Piccolo Music
I incorporate method books into all of my lessons, as well as any technique books that are appropriate for each specific student. The method books that I begin with are Essential Elements, the I Recommend series, Standard of Excellence, and Tradition of Excellence. The technique books depend on the specific instrument and ability level. I feel that it is very important to get every student playing actual sheet music as soon as possible, regardless of skill level. Read More
Instruments: Drums Conga Latin Percussion Djembe
What does a normal practice session look like for you?
I tend to start with warm-up exercises on a practice pad with a metronome, starting slow and speeding up. Then I get into the "work out" portion, where I push into faster tempos to test and improve my technique. After practice pad work, I'll move to the drumset. This is where my routine is more flexible. I generally pick one or two things to practice, which could be playing beats in a certain style, practicing different sticking patterns and fills, or playing along to either songs or backing tracks. Again, I make sure to use a metronome and practice these things at various tempos.
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 in Music Composition from the University of Kansas. Ever since I was in high school, I loved writing music for bands I was in. I had an understanding of basic theory concepts, but I wanted to greatly expand my knowledge of theory and compositional concepts so I could write better music in more diverse styles. This is why I chose to pursue a degree in composition, and I'm so glad I did! Because of my education, I am now able to write for many types of instruments and expand upon simple ideas in any way I see fit.
If you weren't a musician what do you think you'd be doing instead?
If I weren't a musician, I would probably be a programmer. When I started college, I was actually dual majoring in Music Composition and Computer Science! I quickly became overwhelmed with my coursework and ultimately decided to pursue music alone, but I still find programming interesting. However, even if I did end up pursuing Computer Science instead, I would almost certainly still be playing music. It's too important to me to give up completely! In that case, I'd most likely go to jam sessions and try to be in a band so I could play shows on weekends.
What is your favorite style/genre of music to play and why?
I love playing in almost any style, but some of my favorite stuff to play is in the neo-soul/hip-hop genre. Specifically, beat styles inspired by J Dilla, Erykah Badu, and D'Angelo. There's a certain swagger to the style that is an absolute joy to play on the drums. Ultimately though, I think everything I play is informed by jazz. I have studied jazz for years, and it has given me the ability to improvise and communicate musically in basically any style. Even when playing in the aforementioned neo-soul/hip-hop, my musical choices are informed by jazz improvisation.
24 Years
Since We Started
41,456+
Happy Customers
10,769
Cities with Students
3,123
Teachers in Network
Trusted as the industry leader, for over 21 years the teachers in our network have been providing Piano lessons in Orinda to students of all ages and abilities.
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