Connor F
5.0
(3)
Instruments: Guitar, Trumpet, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
Styles: Classical, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Folk
Connor F
5.0
(3)
Instruments: Guitar, Trumpet, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
Styles:
Classical, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Folk
Where I Teach:
Ages Taught: 5-80
BA, East Asian Studies, Connecticut College Minor, Music, Connecticut College
I come from a diverse and varied musical environment. As the son of two professional musicians, I learned very early on the value of being a multi-instrumentalist. I continued on in Piano, Trumpet, and eventually guitar, all the way through college and beyond. I've been blessed with many different types of opportunities from playing weddings, to political events, fundraisers, and touring the country and internationally. I've also been fortunate enough to who have been involved in songwriting and composing for all styles of music, and many different instruments and musicians.
My teaching experience dates back to my college days as a Mandarin Chinese teacher. After I graduated, in addition to Chinese, I taught Middle School band, and started up my tutoring and private teaching business. Since then, I've taught at a variety of different schools, programs, and agencies, teaching Mandarin, ESL, and all types of music. I've been lucky enough to cross disciplines, teaching composition classes as well as pop music classes in Mandarin Chinese. At the moment, I have students who study Trumpet, Guitar, Piano, and Drums, and many even take at least a couple of those, in addition to Mandarin!
Piano - I typically start with Dozen A Day and books that stress technique. At the onset, I believe that hand position is incredibly important, so I make sure to pick exercises and etudes that reflect that importance. After that, I like to move onto the Faber series so that students can have exposure to a bunch of different styles, including jazz, classical, rock and pop.
Guitar - Like piano, technique is where I begin. Basic note identification exercises along with simple chords to get students started. After that, we'll dive into the pentatonic scale, and start to put the chords to actual songs.
Trumpet - In the beginning, simply getting a sound on trumpet can be a challenge. Once that's accomplished, we'll start on basic etudes and technical exercises out of the Arban book.
Drums - Basic rhythm exercises for beginners, and fun games using a variety of percussion keeps students engaged and having fun! After that, we'll start to do some more advanced counting and rhythm exercises, and putting beats and grooves to recordings.
Vocals - We pick high energy songs that younger students like, and sing our hearts out!
Generally, I can only meet with students once or twice a week. Because of this, it's very important that students be able to learn and progress on their own. I believe in the importance of teaching the skills necessary for self-improvement both as a instrumentalist and musician, whether it's figuring out how best to go over trouble sections or memorization. I create checklists for students so that they can clearly show me what they've practiced each day and for how long. Many young students need this structure in order to stay organized. Lastly, I allow students to show off their creativity, and come up with some compositions of their own, which we will workshop and play!
Axel Ortiz
Excellent instructor and patient with beginners!!
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