Piano Lessons in San Francisco, CA

Instruments: Piano Voice

I am a dedicated music teacher, who teaches students from five year old to adult. I graduated from Holy Names University with a Master's degree in Music. I started teaching right after I graduated and have been teaching music in San Francisco Bay Area for over twenty years. In addition to twenty years of public school teaching experience, I have also been teaching piano in private music schools and in my home studio. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Keyboard Acoustic Guitar

I have a lifelong love of music that has taken many forms. I have had concert hall performances around the country of pieces that ranged from traditional classical, to the experimental and the avante-garde. I have created gallery installations that transformed sound as participants moved about the space, as well as other digital/performative experiments that pushed the leading edge of art. I have performed original pop and rock music, organized public musical events, and throughout it all my passion for music and sound has continued to deepen. Read More

Instruments: Piano Ukulele Keyboard Acoustic Guitar

I'd say my teaching style is first tailored to each individual student- their learning style, their genre interest, and their goals. Some student respond to more traditional classical structure, and some respond to improvisation as a way of learning musical concepts. What's exciting is finding out which style each student has, and always come back to the joy keeps them motivated. While I am flexible in this regard, I do have specific practice assignments and repetition exercises that are the work of learning an instrument. Read More

Instruments: Piano Oboe

During the lesson, besides verbal explanation, I demonstrate by playing and ask students if they can hear the difference. I may use metaphor, abstract theory, cards, body movements depend on each individual. Once students overcome a challenge, students may acknowledge accomplishment and gain desire to progress. After each lesson, I would clearly tell my students my expectation for the next lesson. Students and I would also set the goals together for the next lesson. Read More

Instruments: Piano Cello Keyboard

I try to balance the needs of my students and work to strengthen their musical weaknesses for example working on Vibrato or bow distribution. Usually, I like to spend 10 minutes warming up both hands with long tones, scales, arpeggios, and other fun exercises. During the next 30 minutes, we tend to focus on fixing issues relating to the music such as rhythms or intonation issues. In the last 20 minutes of the lesson I tend to focus on musicality and finding inspiration to give to my students so they can exploit their potential. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar

Flowing between the presentation of new information and the actual active playing music is very important to the way I conduct lessons. Especially for the young, I place much more emphasis on facilitating musical experiences rather than the integration of musical nomenclature and conceptualization. When we learn to speak, our ears guide us first, and we imitate. Writing and reading comes later. I've found that this pertains to music as well, if not even moreso. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Drums Bass Guitar Conga Latin Percussion

Jake has been playing guitar and percussion for over 20 years. He teaches all levels of guitar and congas, as well as beginning piano, voice and drum set. He went to Berkeley High School where he played guitar in the BHS Jazz Ensemble. He then attended the New School in New York City, majoring in jazz guitar studies. He has studied jazz guitar with Steve Erquiaga, Dave Creamer and Jack Wilkins, and congas with Josh Jones, Sandy Perez and other Cuban percussionists. Read More