Max V  
Instruments: Piano, Voice
Styles: Classical, Jazz, Pop, Blues, Musical Theater, Showtunes, Swing, Soul

I've been teaching on and off for the last few years. I started teaching privately in my senior year of high school with a rather small number of students. I would help fellow students or neighbors with preparing for NYSSMA, auditions, and upcoming shows. I assisted in directing the annual summer musical at North Shore Day Camp as the head voice coach from 2011 - 2014. Currently, I teach voice and intermediate piano privately as well as work in the Levittown and Massapequa school districts as a substitute teacher for their music faculty. As a voice teacher, I try to be as warm and welcoming as I possibly can. I understand that singing is a very exposing form of music-making and one of the barriers holding us back from our full potential as singers is confidence in our ability to sing. I constantly encourage my students to try new things to help develop strong technique and cheering them on as they explore new ideas and new heights with their voice. Consistent practice is a must for me! Even if it's 20 - 30 minutes a day, every bit of practice helps and I'm a strong believer in the idea that repetition is the key to success. I want my students to do whatever they can to continue building on their technique whether it's NYSSMA, auditions, recitals, shows in and out-of-school you name it I encourage it! Lastly, fun is immensely vital to a successful lesson for me. Music is our escape. Life can be very stressful and music is one of those options we have to unwind and enjoy something even in our more bleak days. I always love the chances I get to sing on a stage or even just practice at home and I want students to have that same love that I do for music.

My methods depend heavily on the age of the student and the level of student I am working with. An example would be the beginner level. For beginning students, I first focus on helping them understand their range (i.e. bass, tenor, alto, soprano) and important fundamentals of singing (i.e. loose jaw, full use of our body as support for our voice, relaxed tongue, proper breath support with the diaphragm, expansion of the ribs, proper body posture, etc). Once I feel the student has a solid understanding of these fundamentals, I move onto introducing them to repertoire that I think would help in putting these newly learned fundamentals into use as well as allowing them to expand their knowledge on other important factors of singing such as diction, pronunciation, phrasing, keeping a legato line, and possibly language skills depending on the piece. Over time I may even have them bring in pieces they may be interested in and work with them on understanding how they can incorporate these fundamentals and newly learned skills into the music that they love. No matter the age or level of the student I work with, I always try to inspire a sense of fun and excitement with my lessons and cheer them on in every new discovery they make, performance they do and piece they master.