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23 Years
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Here are just a few of the many teachers offering Piano lessons in Rancho Palos Verdes . 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 Guitar Drums Bass Guitar Acoustic Guitar
When teaching beginners, especially kids, I find it easiest to have them learn songs that they already enjoy. This often involves learning the chords within the songs and allows us to start focusing on a strum pattern as well. If this seems daunting, sometimes we learn only the abridged or quick version of a song. I always like to start entry level students with the intro to "Come As You Are" by Nirvana. Read More
Instruments: Piano Drums
For piano I use a combination of the Bastien books, if you are a beginner. For more intermediate or advanced I use whatever music the student is interested in. It could be the Great American Songbook or classical music. For percussion, for beginners I use the Garwood Whaley book, Fundamentals for the Snare Drum. For drum set I use the Syncopation Book by Ted Reed and a variety of other books depending on the need. Read More
Instruments: Piano Guitar Violin Cello Accordion
I have been playing cello for 20 or so years. I have studied at CSUN classical cello performance. I have been teaching for about 10 years. I have brought many students from complete beginners all the way up to concierto level playing. I have played for and with many very successful bands over the years including Chelsea Wolfe, No Age, Saint Motel, Tes Elations. I have also played in many orchestras and chamber groups. I also do session recording and I can teach you any genre of music you'd like to learn. Read More
Instruments: Piano Guitar
I make an individualized curriculum for each of my students based on their learning desires and their talent levels. For beginning students it is important to learn standard techniques such as chords and techniques, I use songs and beginner method books based on a student's learning goals, age, and talent level for lesson materials. For intermediate students I teach sight reading using the Melodic Rhythms for guitar book by William Leavitt and jazz music theory. Read More
Instruments: Piano Trumpet Saxophone Euphonium
I find piano such a wonderful tool for personal growth and I incorporate it into a healthy relaxing life. My number one priority with my teaching is to make sure the student first and foremost feels safe and has fun as they watch themselves grow to do things on the piano that translate on and off the bench. If you are student or parent with memories of the crabby old lady as a piano teacher that treated you horribly, I can assure you that one of my strengths is I cultivate very warm comforting relationships with my students! Read More
Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Ukulele Music Acoustic Guitar
The best award for the teacher is seeing his student develops his own talent. And I'm sure that every one is talented and the only question is how it talent will be enriched and developed. I encourage my student being their true self in performing, feeding from traditional and modern sources but keeping his own unique voice or playing style, accomplishing his personal goals, without comparing his own dynamics and results with other people, but working on becoming better than himself every day of learning. Read More
Instruments: Piano Violin Music
I graduated from the renowned Istanbul Technical University Turkish Music Conservatory Performing Arts Bachelor Program in Istanbul/Turkey. After my graduation, I studied Sound Design at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. I have worked on projects, from performances studio recording sessions to podcasting, and sound for films. I'm also a co-founding member of the EVA String Quartet, a female string quartet that performs both classical and Turkish music arrangements. Read More
Instruments: Voice
What advice do you have about practicing effectively?
1) Repetition, repetition, repetition. Break apart the piece into its individual components (rhythm, notes, words) and only start assembling it when each element is solidly and independently learned. Can you self-conduct the rhythms? Can you speak the rhythms on words? It's easier for the brain to process simpler tasks, and approaching the music from many different directions helps memory. 2) Distributed practicing. Practice for 15 minutes here and there throughout each day, with the intent of accomplishing a specific task or goal. If you have this kind of focus, it's easier to actually get things done, and you won't get bored and tired cramming music for 4 or 5 hours, once a week, which is horrible for memory and technique.
How do I know if my child is ready to start lessons?
A child can start learning about the voice at anytime, however it takes the vocal folds a while to mature. To avoid serious injury or longterm vocal health issues, it's best to wait to begin formal lessons until the student is 13 or older. Sometimes, if the student is younger than 14, people recommend learning the basics of music and performance through another instrument, like the saxophone or piano. This helps the child become a good musician before their voice is ready to take voice lessons in the studio. If the passion is there in high school, there's no reason they shouldn't pursue lessons.
When will I start to see results?
Lessons develop voices, but they also develop confidence, musicianship, and responsibility in the student. Results are determined by the effort expressed in lessons and when practicing at home. Students obtain new ways to use and think about their voice during the first lesson, and results could theoretically begin to manifest from this first hour or half hour in the studio. However, real and longterm change takes time, and every learns at different paces. There shouldn't be pressure to be perfect right away--there's a lot to learn!
Do you use specific teaching methods or books? (Ex: Alfred, Bastion, Suzuki, Hal Leonard) Why did you choose them if you did?
The methods of my lessons are lightly adapted from the teachings of my own instructor and mentor, W. Stephen Smith. He has had tremendous success with his students, who have gone onto garner some of the biggest professional careers in opera and musical theater today. He developed several "inventions" that work to disentangle the vocal apparatus and, in doing so, help to free the voice and musical expression behind it. His methods are universal, easily adjustable for each student, proven to work, and fun.
If you weren't a musician what do you think you'd be doing instead?
I have always had a passion for writing, and if I didn't choose to be a musician, I may have studied to become and author of fiction. Even now, it's a hobby of mine to read and write. This is an asset in the studio and practice room, because singing is a language art. The biggest difference between the voice and any other instrument is, of course, the ability to use words. An easy and clear delivery of text is a goal of mine every time I sing, because, without words, I might as well be playing any other instrument! I indulge in the luxury.
23 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 Rancho Palos Verdes to students of all ages and abilities.
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