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Bachelor Degree: SUNY Purchase
My name is Eric S and I just graduated from SUNY Purchase as a Jazz Saxophone Major in the fall the 2022. I have had many opportunities to play in New York City on both saxophone and trumpet at venues such as Birdland and Smalls. I love talking about jazz with students and spreading the wisdom I have learned on my own journey from many renowned musicians that I have studied with such as Gary Smulyan, Jon Faddis, Doug Stone, and many more. I would love to carry on the legacy that the people that I look up to have done for me.
I have gained a passion for teaching from the people that taught and inspired me. I have worked with high school students and middle school students and find it rewarding to see them grow and progress into better musicians. I have enjoyed finding ways to keep my students motivated and wanting to come back and pursue their talent that they can spread with the world. I want each student to be able to study what it is that they find interesting and fun, so I will try to include music from musicians that my students take interest in.
I will work with each student to help them understand the fundamentals of jazz, for example, knowing major scales, minor scales, and all of the modes that we typically see in most jazz repertoire. For students that are more advanced we will work on learning how to play over common chord progressions and learn how to play songs found in the Great American Songbook. For students at a higher level, we can work on cementing more advanced techniques such as how to play over chord substitutions. No matter the skill level I will work with each student to find out how they learn best. After each lesson, students will be given assignments and an overview of what we covered during the lesson on a Google Doc page.
I feel that it's very important to see what skill level each student is at in order to meet their needs. I want my students to be challenged during lessons but still have fun playing their instrument. We would work on grasping the fundamentals, such as scales, embouchure, etc. but I will make sure to include things that each student would find challenging, engaging, and fun no matter what their skill level or ability is. We will also work together on expanding their repertoire and understanding how jazz musicians work and communicate on the bandstand.