Saxophone Lessons in San Francisco, CA

Instruments: Drums

Have any of your students won awards or been selected for special honors? How have they succeeded?
Many students have been selected as first chairs in the middle school jazz band or in their elementary school concert ensemble group. Most of my students started between the age of 6-12, so I have yet to see them reach their full potential & I am so excited to see where it goes! Also, I am excited to add more students that will be put onto a trajectory of success!

What is your dream piece to perform and why?
I would say, at this current moment, anything by Lee Morgan. Would love to collaborate with a quartet / quintet of jazz players to cover some of his music. Particularly the Cornbread or Gigolo records.

If you weren't a musician what do you think you'd be doing instead?
Probably working in a record store or something with history. Even cooking.

What is your favorite style/genre of music to play and why?
I would say anything avant garde or comprised of experimental components. It's due to my enjoyment of looking to push boundaries or try new things in the realm of music.

When did you decide to become a professional musician? Was it a gradual decision or was there a defining moment for you?
I wanted to pursue music out of high school. The thought truthfully entered my mind after hearing of a band called Sleep. They showed me the music of the underground & the prospect that being a musician was just being a rockstar, but an individual who was very well versed in their craft, that if needed, would wear multiple hats to make a living. Touring, teaching, creating instruments, working in the music business. The one thing those was making sure that you are professional in playing, relationships, & teaching. You cannot do this without the passion & skillset that the role mandates. Become a teacher was a process, but one that I've wanted to fulfill now for years. Its been almost 4 years of teaching music & I'm happier with my decision more and more each day!

Do you use specific teaching methods or books? (Ex: Alfred, Bastion, Suzuki, Hal Leonard) Why did you choose them if you did?
Moeller technique or percussive stroke techniques. As well as the interplay between wrists & fingers. All the books I use are list above. I chose them as I learned from them, revisited them to further work on technique, & to evaluate their effectiveness. Fortunately many of these works are used as staple texts in a drummers vocabulary & will give them the springboard to dive into their topical studies i.e jazz, rock, interdependence.

Does music run in your family? Tell us a little about your musical family members.
Yes. The earliest family members from Italy, that my family knows about, has been involved with music. My mother's mother and her family were known as a musical / artistic group of individuals. She knows that a variety of individuals ranging from her grandfather, uncles, mother, and children, including my mother, were musicians. Some were playing as fun, some played & created for the city of Philadelphia's orchestra as well as marble carvings. Music & the Arts have always been in my family!

What do you think is the hardest thing to master on your instrument?
Accurate improvisatorial approach to the instrument. To keep constant diversity & creativity in the instrument. Stop going to the licks, phrases, & figures that are easy or difficult or fun, but that the player has mastered. It's trying to blend or funnel your influences in a new way, constantly. You will always sounds & approach the drums as yourself, but what can be add to the vocabulary & your original statement; the thumbprint.

What does a normal practice session look like for you?
Normal is about an hour or hour & a half. 10-20 minutes of chopping incorporating ideas & theories amongst patterns. Taking 5,7,9,10 stroke rolls etc & turning them into repeating patterns, i.e. quintuplet, sevtuplet, nontuplet etc. 10 minutes from a book called stick control. Refine weakness or potential sloppiness with left hands. 15 minutes from a book called new breed to work on interdependence amongst the four limbs. 15-20 minutes of working on polymeric playing amongst two or more limbs. 20-30 minutes of playing along to a song to either test licks & chopping or to practice ear training / playing parts from a song. At this point, its constant refinement & search for new material.

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