Piano Lessons in Villa Park, IL

Instruments: Piano Voice Trumpet Trombone Euphonium Tuba Music Keyboard

I want my students to find enjoyment and purpose from making music first and foremost. Every student has a unique set of skills, and not every student learns the same way. I believe that something valuable can be learned from any single piece of music. Etude books, like Voxman's Selected Studies, and Rochut's Melodious Etudes are my go to for daily practice, but are not the only option available. I like to take a pragmatic approach to teaching, and will modify any exercises and routines as needed to get the best result from each student. Read More

Instruments: Piano Drums Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion Conga Latin Percussion

As I mentioned previously, I find it very important that every student be approached from an individual, customized standpoint. However, I do find it important that every student has a strong basis in fundamentals and sound quality so that they have a strong foundation which they can then build upon. For beginning students, I will typically start them with rudiments and eventually work them into a mix of published and improvised solos to foster both technical progress and artistic creativity. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice Saxophone Ukulele Recorder Music Keyboard

I have had a desire to be an educator since I was in second grade. The first music ensemble I directed was a men's choir at Huntley High School in Huntley, Illinois. I proceeded to direct worship choirs and bands at Carthage College for my four years at Carthage. After Carthage I became the music teacher at Fratt Elementary School in Racine, Wisconsin where I taught general music and directed the annual fourth and fifth grade musical. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice Music Keyboard

Hi there! My name is Ariel and I am super excited to meet you! A little bit about myself, I am an active performer for opera, musical theater, and crossover that performs in the U.S. and internationally. I have my Master's degree in Vocal Performance and graduated in 2018. When it comes to teaching, I've been teaching private voice since 2015 and have had the absolute joy and honor of joining several students on their vocal journeys. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Electric Guitar

My teaching style is that I set a plan for every student I have. For instance, I will apply reading notes, but that will not work for each student, each student is different and would prefer another style of teaching. That's when i would test their own level of memorization. I would teach each student chord structure of memorizing maximum 2 chords. Once each student fully has the 2 chords memorized I would hand them a sheet of paper, giving them instructions on top of the paper, stating Now that you have mastered memorizing the chords I would want you to come up with a small melody by building a staff with a time signature and writing the notes on the sheet of paper. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Violin Trumpet Trombone Saxophone Flute Clarinet Drums Recorder Euphonium Tuba Mallet Percussion

I like to get to know the student as I am teaching so I create small breaks to get to know who I am teachign and their interest, so that I may taylor my lessons to the student. For beginning students I like to use essential elements books as a guide for their practice. For adults I try to find out their long term goals and taylor my lessons to gettimng them to reach that goal. Read More

Instruments: Piano Trumpet Music Keyboard

I am an educator, composer, and instrumentalist with a Bachelor of Music degree in composition. Over the past few years I have been fortunate to share the stage with artists like Bernard Purdie (drummer for Aretha Franklin), Donny Mccaslin (Saxophonist for David Bowie), and Cassandra O'Neil (Keyboardist for Prince). While I love performing, my heart lies with composing. I work primarily as a composer for film and TV, although I regularly write music for the concert hall as well. Read More