Saxophone Lessons in West Point, PA

Instruments: Piano Saxophone Flute Ukulele

I feel like I have a very loose teaching style that is grounded in the fundamentals. I do not put deadlines or timelines on any student's progress, and I also realize that each student's needs are unique to each and every person. I work to give each and every student a very solid understanding of music (being able to sit at a piano or pick up a horn and play music, be able to recognize and understand the theoretical aspects of music, aurally discern chord progression and when a wrong not is played to understand why chords move they way they do and be able to easily hear your own musitakes). Read More

Instruments: Piano Saxophone Clarinet Accordion

I typically start woodwind students with the Standard of Excellence Comprehensive Band Method series. I like to use the Faber Piano Adventures Series or the Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course for piano instruction. In addition to the method book, I like to incorporate physical/breathing exercises, supplemental warm-ups, sight-reading, music theory worksheets, and student selected repertoire in lessons. I also encourage students to create their own compositions. In the past, I have digitally recorded many of my students' compositions and have really enjoyed encouraging students to express themselves through original composition. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Saxophone Flute Clarinet Synthesizer Piccolo Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion Oboe Bassoon English Horn Acoustic Guitar

I love the learning process and to see students progress through the stages of learning an instrument. I taught myself to play the piano before I started formal lessons. I began playing the saxophone at the same time I took up the piano. I entered my undergraduate program in 1992, majoring in music education with the saxophone and piano as my principle instruments. During my studies at the University of South Alabama, a new program was started in MIDI and I attended an extra year to master digital audio. Read More

Instruments: Saxophone

My teaching philosophy, shaped through years of varied classroom and private experiences, revolves around empathy and individuality. Every student is unique in their strengths and deficiencies, and it is my job as a teacher to figure out the most effective and enjoyable method of conveying knowledge. I specialize in creating personal, individualized practice plans and exercises for students, even going so far as writing etudes and recording transcription exercises with specific students in mind. Read More

Instruments: Piano Saxophone Flute Clarinet Keyboard

Great music lessons are a mix of solid technique building and fun application of those skills. I always spend the first few lessons getting the student familiar with the basic technique of the instrument, and then quickly move on to duets, improvising, sight reading, solos, etc. that tie in with the current technique studies. Music can also be heard or read, so I try to strike a balance between reading music/theory and learning/improvising by ear. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Saxophone Organ Double Bass Keyboard

I am also the creator of a unique method called "The Seven Secrets of Jazz and Soul" which emphasizes the importance of using simple/easy-to-understand language, even when teaching the most difficult of concepts. I also believe in the importance of "coaching" as opposed to lecturing and try to minimize reading, writing and one-sided lecturing during the lesson. Instead, I sit next to my students, and calmly guide them through the creative process. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Saxophone Bass Guitar Double Bass

I have been studying and playing music since I was 7. I began on saxophone in my school's concert band and jazz band proceded by my own musical endeavors on electric bass playing rock and jazz music. I spent high school gigging Philadelphia with The Paisley Haze Quintet. In my undergrad studies at University of Vermont, I picked up the upright bass, studying both jazz and classical styles. I became heavily active in the Burlington, VT music scene performing with such groups as: The Object Three, Nuevos Comediantes, Divine Lorraine, Anna Pardenik and the Holy Smoke-Off, Brass Balagan, Duke Aeroplane and the Wrong Numbers, and Grup Anwar. Read More