Piano Lessons in Portage, WI

Instruments: Piano Voice

For beginning piano students who are children, we will typically either start with Alfred or Piano Adventures series. I find that both these series introduce the concepts of technique, theory, solo playing, and terminology in ways that help them learn effectively. Depending on the age, they will be placed in either early beginner's series or the beginner series. For adults, I look at what they are interested in and build a course for them based on that. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Drums Bass Guitar Keyboard Djembe Acoustic Guitar

I've been singing, playing drums, and piano for the past twelve years. I've received formal training in voice and drums, so if you want really solid technique and discipline, these are my two strongest areas to deliver. I learned how to play guitar and bass because whenever my bandmates were out of town, I couldn't record anything, so now I can be my own band! Because I couldn't afford lessons for five instruments, I had to settle with teaching myself. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice

As our time together continues, my goal for the student is that they become more self-sufficient (as is age-appropriate). For example, a teenage/adult student who has been taking lessons for a year will lead the lesson more than a beginner student; they will understand my warm up system and will arrive at the lesson warmed up and arrive with goals and questions prepared. This is because my goals for each student surpass their ability on their instrument: being a good musician means taking responsibility for one's practice. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Bass Guitar

I'm a guitar and piano player who has been teaching students of all ages since 2011. I started playing guitar 17 years ago and it has been my constant companion since then. I got my music degree from Carleton College, and my senior project was on jazz guitar arranging. I have played in bands, both on guitar and bass, for many years and I love performing live. I have taught most styles of guitar, and also beginner piano and bass guitar. Read More

Instruments: Piano Djembe

Taking the teaching perspective that the piano is a percussion instrument, my instructional focuses are on rhythmic development where I use drumming patterns, hemiolas and other metronome tactics to develop your time. I am a Jazz musician, however going deeper means I use music to communicate as a language, taking the language development metaphor further, I use scales, arpeggios, movements, melodies and song forms, just to name a few as methods to communicate or improvise, both with the audience and other musicians. Read More

Instruments: Piano Drums Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion Latin Percussion Djembe

With both piano, percussion and drum instruction I cover things such as technique, reading, music theory etc. I work out of a variety of books depending on the student's level of experience and interests. In regards to technique there are a variety of things that I cover including the mechanics of the body, posture, hand and arm positioning and a variety of techniques depending on what the music is calling for. Read More