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Here are just a few of the many teachers offering Saxophone lessons in Los Angeles . 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: Saxophone
For younger students that are beginners I try to get a better understanding of their skillset by giving them and listening to to them play a simple etude. This will give me a better idea of what I think we should work on most like embouchure or breath control. Once I feel like they have a good understanding of the fundamentals of the instrument I try to give them pieces that focus more on the the technicality of the saxophone. Read More
Instruments: Saxophone Music
I think the most important thing for a teacher is to have good communication, patience, and guidance. Let the students grow up under proper pressure. My teaching center is to train every student to think and create music itself. I think music theory and all kinds of instruments are tools to express music. It is my goal to teach students how to use music theory and their instruments to build music ideas, and guide students to view the world in the way of music ideas and build their own music palace. Read More
Instruments: Piano Trumpet Saxophone Euphonium
For beginning students, my primary resource is generally the purple Primer level Faber book, however I often use principles of teaching from Simply Music and Piano Safari that allow beginning students to get right into playing some very interesting songs without having to read them. I think reading is important, don't get me wrong. However, I think that the ability to be versatile on the sounds of the piano without the abstraction of music notes can be very helpful for fostering a love for music early on. Read More
Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Violin Cello Viola Trumpet Trombone Saxophone Flute Clarinet Drums Bass Guitar Organ Synthesizer Harp Accordion Harmonica Lap Steel Guitar Banjo Ukulele Mandolin Recorder Lute Electric Violin Fiddle Double Bass Euphonium French Horn Tuba Piccolo Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion Shakuhachi Oboe Bassoon English Horn Conga Latin Percussion Keyboard Electric Guitar Djembe Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar
Derek is most known for his association with the John Daversa Big Band. Derek has had the pleasure of meeting and performing with many of his musical heroes. He has recorded live and studio albums with Arturo Sandoval, Jon Faddis, John Fedchock, James Morrison, Greg Gisbert, Roger Ingram, Paul Stephens, Scott Englebright, Donny Dyess, the Tastee Bros, Bernard Wright, Gene Coye, Steve Reid, Kate Reid, Melvin Butler, Ed Calle, Richard Todd, Mike Brignola, Alex Norris, Dante Luciani, John Hart, Martin Bejerano, Chuck Bergeron, Rick Margitza, and appears on the Gary Lindsay album "Are We Still Dreaming" with the South Florida Jazz Orchestra. Read More
Instruments: Saxophone Flute
I love to see my students get excited about music! I try to ignite the flame and get them to develop an interest of their own. Music should be a fun and positive part of our lives. While it's important to have fun, I also make sure students are gaining a solid foundation in the technical facility of the instrument. The sooner we can navigate the instrument without limitations, the sooner we can focus on the music itself! I like to incorporate duets, popular music, ear training, notation, and spontaneity in lessons. Read More
Instruments: Piano Saxophone Flute Clarinet Drums
I'm an extremely dedicated and passionate performing artist, composer, and instructor with a BM in Jazz Studies from the USC Thornton School of Music. I love all aspects of playing, teaching, and writing music, but my favorite part is sharing my passion with others and watching a similar passion grow in themselves. I have been playing saxophone for about 12 years, flute and clarinet for 7, and drums and piano for the past 3 years (so I can only accept beginning drum and piano students.) I love all types of music and will work with you on any genre you want to work on while improving your overall facility on your instrument! Read More
Instruments: Saxophone
With private students, I customize my teaching methods to how each student best learns. I have several methods to teach most music concepts and saxophone technique so that I can better connect with each student’s learning style. I find students have a more enjoyable experience when I give them the chance to learn what they would like to play. For jazz students, I first have them identify a musician they enjoy listening to and begin exploring what makes that player unique. Read More
Instruments: Saxophone Flute
If you weren't a musician what do you think you'd be doing instead?
If I weren't a musician I would most likely be doing computer science. I love coding on computers as a hobby. However, that would never happen because I love being a musician. I want to have a free schedule, and I want to study and practice something that I know I'll love doing for my entire life. I don't want to be stuck in an office all day on a computer, or a cubicle working on things that I don't want to. I'd rather be homeless, working hard to make a buck off the street playing my beloved saxophone than to be stuck in an office for the rest of my life loathing my job. That is very much how far I would go to be a musician.
When will I start to see results?
Results begin to show right away! However, the one important thing that is crucial to the learning process of a child is to be consistent, and to practice as often as they can. Teaching a child information can be lost as easily as it can be retained. However, this can easily be avoided if a child remains practicing as much as they can. Parents can and should help their child as much as they can to also build discipline for the child to be consistent with practice. I will also help and guide students as much as possible!
Did you have a teacher that inspired you to go into music? How did they inspire you?
Yes my mentor Quincy Cavers. He was the last student of Clark Terry a few years before he died. Quincy lived with Clark for a few years until the day of his death. Clark gave him lessons every day and he spent a lot of time learning from Clark. He was also in his movie Keep on Keepin' On. Quincy inspired me with the way that he played the saxophone and with all of his life lessons and the way he talked about Clark and what he showed him. He taught me a lot of things and prepared me the way Clark tried to prepare Quincy. He inspired me to want to teach other people and pass on the same information to the maybe next Clark Terry.
What advice do you have about practicing effectively?
I strongly believe having a planned schedule of when and what to practice will work very efficiently to help you improve and practice what you need. These practice sessions need to be planned throughout the entire day. If they are more than 2 hours of practice, make sure to take at least 10-15 minute breaks in between. Trying to practice mistakes and being extremely exhausted, tired or annoyed of what you're practicing won't help anyone. Distract yourself for a little while on your break to get your mind off of what you practiced. Don't worry, once you go back to it, you're brain is already refreshed and you'll play it better. I learned this from experience. Also, have early morning practices are great because you wake up well-rested, and your brain is reset for the day. This will definitely help you retain more information of what you practiced throughout the day.
How do I know if my child is ready to start lessons?
I believe that any child form the ages 5+ are already able enough to start lessons. Children's brains at that age begin to absorb a lot of information that gets retained the most. Especially in music a child at that age will be ready to start lessons and will actually drastically improve over a short amount of time (1-3 years) and will indefinitely become as well as they are taught and practice their instruments. Children are exactly like human sponges and will definitely be able to start at a young age and so on if they continue with their instrument.
What does a normal practice session look like for you?
A normal practice session for me is about 6-8 hours a day. However, I take 15 minute breaks in between every hour. I sit down, place a metronome, and I begin to practice my basic scales. Major, Dominant, Minor scales are what I begin with at 130bpm 16th notes to the highest and lowest range of my instrument. Then I start working on arpeggios, triads etc. Then I begin to work on more complicated scales like diminished, half-diminished, whole tone, bebop scales, etc. I also work on transcribing different players and their solos by ear with records and youtube recordings.
25 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 Saxophone lessons in Los Angeles to students of all ages and abilities.
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