Melissa M  
Instruments: Flute, Piccolo
Styles: Classical, Marching Band

Teaching is the most rewarding aspect of my career as it is an important way for me to share music with others. I first started teaching private flute lessons in 2013 working primarily with K-12 students. In 2015, I taught flute sectionals and music classes for middle school students as a counselor at the University of Colorado Boulder Summer Music Academy. I also served as Event Coordinator for the University of Colorado Boulder's Teaching Peace Through Music chapter, where I helped plan and promote classes on music education and learned from instructors working with underprivileged youth. I also worked as a School Aged Child Care Leader at Sandburg Elementary School from 2015 to 2018, further honing my skills in working with children ages 5 to 11. In 2019, I attended Marrowstone Music Festival as a Fellow. This gave me the opportunity to mentor high school and undergraduate flutists individually and during sectionals and to coach a student wind quintet. During my final year at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, I also taught a Public Speaking course for undergraduate students. In this teaching position, I coached students individually and in large groups and covered subjects such as breathing, stage fright, posture, and audience adaptation, topics very relevant for flutists.

I structure lessons to be as fun as possible while also helping students grow musically. For beginner students, I typically start by teaching from Flute 101: Mastering the Basics by Phyllis Avidan Louke and Patricia George. If the student is in a band or orchestra program, I make sure to incorporate any method books or music being taught in that program into my lessons as well. I also use workbooks and games to teach beginning music theory and karate belt levels to encourage younger students to learn their scales. For older and/or more advanced students, I like to create a balance of tone warm ups, scale work, etudes, and musical rep. I encourage students to bring pieces they are interested in learning into their lessons. If a student is also interested in non-classical music (e.g. Disney tunes, Celtic music, pop, jazz, etc.), I find music in those genres at their playing level for them to enjoy. I do also create custom exercises and materials to supplement method books as needed.