Jared K
Instruments: Piano, Synthesizer, Keyboard
Styles: Classical, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Funk, Electronic, Avant-garde
Jared K
Instruments: Piano, Synthesizer, Keyboard
Styles:
Classical, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Funk, Electronic, Avant-garde
Where I Teach:
Ages Taught: 5-80
2018-2019 - University of Oregon Music Scholarship
2016-2017 - Boise Choristers Music Scholarship
2014-2017 - Bratt Music Composition Scholarship
2015-2016 - Veness/Munson Piano Scholarship
2015 - Runner-up winner in Donald Sinta Quartet National Composition Competition
I am a composer, pianist, computer musician, and producer with a love for music of just about any style or genre. I am also an avid educator, and it is my goal as a teacher to help instill in my students a drive to achieve their highest musical aspirations. I am a very patient and encouraging person, and my students tend to enjoy working with me. I am deeply committed to attaining the highest level of craftsmanship that I can, both in my compositional output and in my piano playing. Teaching is extremely satisfying to me because of the chance it gives me to see that same passion for music take root and flourish within my students.
I currently pursue dual Master of Music degrees in Composition and Intermedia Music Technology at the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance, where my primary instructors include composers Robert Kyr, David Crumb, and Jeffrey Stolet. I graduated from Boise State University with a Bachelor of Music in Composition. At BSU, I studied composition with David Biedenbender, Sam L. Richards, Eric Alexander, and J. Wallis Bratt; piano with Del Parkinson; and jazz with Chuck Smith and Alex Noppe. As both a composer and a pianist, I specialize in music which draws influences from a wide range of musical styles. I compose for and play keyboard in the brain-funk band Emergency Stopping Only.
I started teaching privately in 2010. Over the first few years, I offered lessons in piano, composition, saxophone, euphonium, and trombone. However, within the last few years, I have opted to narrow my focus as a teacher and teach only those subjects that I specialize in, which are piano and composition. I love a ton of different kinds of music, and it has always been my goal to help inspire in my students that same kind of love for music. One of the ways that I try to foster this kind of music appreciation is by allowing students the option to self-direct. If there is a particular piece of music or a song that my students want to learn or some specific goal that they want to achieve, I will encourage students to go after that. I find that when I combine the students' interests with some structure and guidance in learning technical facility, the students learn more and become more invested in learning music.
When working with beginning students who are children, I often will recommend the primer-level methods books by either Bastien or Faber & Faber, as well as a Notespeller book by Schaum. These books will constitute the core of the student's curriculum. I also ask that students get a lined notebook, and sometimes I will have students purchase a book of staff paper, as well. Over the course of the child's music studies, we will add in pieces of music to learn, which will gradually increase in difficulty as the student gets better and better.
When working with students who already have some experience with piano, I generally will have them continue in the same methods books set that they have already been using.
When I work with adult students, I find that we generally have more success when the student self-directs. In other words, I work with the student to help them set their own goals for what they want to accomplish in lessons, and we go from there. Music that I ask adult students to purchase could include things like Faber & Faber's Adult Piano Adventures books, a Schaum Notespeller, and notated music that the students has particular interest in learning.
My favorite thing about teaching is getting to see my students learn to love music widely and deeply. In other words, I strive to help my students love a wide range of musical styles and genres, and to love being able to understand and perform that music at a high level. And I believe that developing this kind of love for music takes time and should be an enjoyable journey. So, I will often recommend recordings of compositions, composers, albums, artists, and performances for my students to check out. This is typically done in a casual manner, and students are encouraged to recommend music to me that they are excited about.
Check out our A+
Rating from the Better Business Bureau
100% Risk-Free Trial Lesson
If you are not satisfied after your trial lesson, you will not be charged and we can match you with another teacher.