Michael B  
Instruments: Trumpet, Trombone, Euphonium, French Horn, Tuba, Music
Styles: Classical, Jazz, Pop, Musical Theater, Salsa, Reggae, Latin Jazz, Swing, Bossa Nova, Marching Band, Mariachi, Avant-garde

I have taught just about all kinds of people and all kinds of ages. I also love puzzles and challenges so any musical frustrations brought to me usually turn out to be flipped around to a solution or at least a carefully devised plan to achieve a goal. I have several students that I have helped win auditions and, while I will never promise a successful outcome, it is rare that they will not get into a group if they study with me consistently. I don’t claim to be the best teacher or musician in the world, but I do believe that I have done both at a very high level and I have the ability to learn who the student really is in order to help him or her successfully make the changes to improve. I have also been on all sides of the equation from student to private teacher to the one hearing the auditions!

I honestly play it by ear for each student. Everyone is different and has different goals. After meeting with a student and finding out their level and what they want to do, I might have them start by playing 2 notes really well as a first step, but it might include ensuring they can play them accurately on command with a beautiful sound, great start and end to each note, steady sound, solid intonation, and any dynamic requested. Another possibility is that I ask them to prepare their audition pieces or anything they want to learn by the next lesson. This might include assigning listening to recordings, practicing tricky passages, or working on a new technique that I might have showed them. I’m also big on recording one’s own playing and listening back to it. If you stop reading here and just do that, then you can get VERY far without any teachers at all. It’s a little secret that teachers don’t like to share, but I like to live on the edge :)