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Bachelor Degree: Berklee College of Music
2009 - Berklee College of Music Merit Scholarship
I am an experienced professional musician who performs and records regularly on multiple instruments and in many styles of music. I've composed soundtracks for national television shows and advertisements, and I am very passionate about teaching and sharing my love of music and the learning process. I have had and continue to have the great pleasure to perform, record, conduct, and cowrite with Grammy winning artists, producers, and engineers, and have had the opportunity to play at prestigious venues such as the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, Jazz at Lincoln Center's Rose Theater, and toured on five different continents.
I started teaching music lessons back when I was 14, when friends would ask for tips or lessons, and local parents wanted lessons for their children. I fell in love with the act of helping others to realize the music inside them, and have been teaching consistently ever since. Learning any musical instrument involves learning about oneself. The student and teacher must work together to define their goals, be comfortable confronting shortcomings, discover how they learn best, and find the patience and drive to practice for long enough to get better. I make it a point to look for and point out to each student the learning methods that are having the most success for them. With each student, I also work with them to design an engaging and achievable practice routine, because getting better is the goal, and it's also fun!
Most important to my teaching is that each student to listens to a lot of music, and learns to play the music that they love as soon as possible. I work with a variety of method books/videos depending on skill level and stylistic interest, and teach time-tested regimens for building raw ability on the instrument. I also have many exercises of my own invention that are fun to listen to and play, while still remaining challenging and building facility. I teach every student (no matter the instrument) to truly understand the theory and physics of music, and always work on composing and improvising as well as how to read, learn by ear, and the skills necessary for performing with a group.
All I want is to know that my students are enjoying music more deeply, and that they gain the self-sufficiency to learn between lessons. I make sure to point out milestones that a student has achieved to encourage that innate human drive for improvement, and always keep looking for what is exciting and inspiring for the student at a given time. I make sure each student I work with knows what elements to include in their practice, how to learn a piece of music from scratch, and how to break things down into manageable, learnable chunks. Every lesson is tailored to the individual student, to their goals and where they are in their abilities. Everyone progresses at their own pace, and while we work hard, we also play hard, because the number one purpose of practicing and playing music is to have fun!