Piano Lessons in San Ramon, CA

Instruments: Piano Guitar Bass Guitar Synthesizer Music Keyboard Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

I think of two things as being central to my teaching style: Fun, and Growth. I think too many music lessons dry out the material, and suck the fun out of something that should be inherently joyful! I try to make every music lesson interesting, and keep my students engaged by giving them material that gets them hyped. Second, I think music is a great chance for people to experience the joy in Growth. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Keyboard Acoustic Guitar

For voice, I will typically start with technique and breath. The first lesson is heavy in feeling the anatomy of the body to cultivate a coordinated breath for the most optimal and healthy singing. From there, we move into warm-ups, and will adjust vowels to find resonant spaces. Generally, with the voice, after the initial work with anatomy there is an improvisatory style of teaching that I develop, catered to the individual. Read More

Instruments: Piano Saxophone Clarinet

Especially for young people, maintaining interest and ensuring that they continue to see the value of their musical education is essential. I remember a very frank conversation with my mother when at 13 I wanted to give up music to play football, and I blame that on the style of teaching I was receiving. Whilst there is stuff not to like about instrumental learning - for some it's scales, for me it was sight reading - the satisfaction comes from masterng these challenges, and if we can keep these short and long term goals relevant to the student, getting the practice hours done may be a litte easier on everyone! Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Synthesizer Keyboard Acoustic Guitar

For children just beginning their instrument, I teach finger placement and note location on the piano by using a color coding system to use in learning a song from John Thompson's Easy Piano Course. From there i introduce songs that interest them and develop sheet music comprehension, rhythm, finger technique and harmony development at a pace comfortable for your child. For older students, I ask them what their interests in music are. Read More

Instruments: Piano

I like to emphasize learning technique through pieces, rather than practicing only technique on its own, as that can get boring very quickly! For beginning students, I like to start with the Piano Adventures series, which has pieces which are easy, teach basic techniques, but also are musically interesting. Once they have the fundamentals, we can begin working on solo repertoire that interests the student. For older students who are interested in 20th century music, I like to teach Bartok's Mikrokosmos. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Bass Guitar Ukulele Music Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

I began teaching music in 2009 as a tutor for the local junior college teaching music theory and musicianship. I expanded to voice and guitar lessons and have been teaching for the last 12 years. I teach in my home studio, in my students homes and online. I know that consistent practice is the way for students to reach their music goals and so I make sure that each student knows what to practice and how to practice. Read More

Instruments: Piano Drums Organ Synthesizer

Teaching has been a constant for me since college (around 2005). I helped tutor both aural theory and written theory, and also helped with beginner piano classes. Later on, I taught at the East Bay Jazz Workshop and offered private lessons part time both at my home studio and at Young World pre-school. I've taught students of all ages and skill levels for many years and also can provide some experience at arranging, theory, and improvisation. Read More