Joe P  
Instruments: Trombone, Euphonium, Tuba
Styles: Classical, Jazz, Pop, Blues, R&B, Opera, Latin, Funk, Salsa, Showtunes, Latin Jazz, Marching Band, Punk

I have always loved teaching. I taught martial arts for several years, and I have also taught private lessons for most of my college career. I think that there are fundamentals that are necessary to brass playing, and that if you work to build those fundamentals then you can be successful in any playing situation. I am also adament that musicianship has to come first and technique issues have to be subservient to making great music. Because of this I always push to get students playing music as soon as possible. No one picks up an instrument to learn how to play long tones, and so this "music first" mentality helps students to stay focused and motivated because they can see much quicker progress in their own playing.

I've been very lucky to have had fantastic teachers throughout my musical career. I try to adapt the same methods that they used with me while I was first learning to play. I pretty much tailor lessons to each specific student's needs as there are no 2 students who are exactly the same. Everyone will have different things they do well and it is my job as the teacher to help them develop the specific things that they need to work on.