Clarinet Lessons Midwest

Instruments: Guitar, Trumpet, Trombone, Saxophone, Flute, Clarinet, Bass Guitar

Ben holds a BM in Music Education (PreK-12 Instrumental) from Longwood University and an MM in Music Education from Virginia Commonwealth University. While he majored in clarinet and performs primarily on bass outside of the concert band world, Ben is a multi-instrumentalist, performing with numerous ensembles on a number of different instruments. Past credits include the Mid-Atlantic Wind Symphony (principal clarinet, bass clarinet), Aaron Noë All-Stars (electric and upright bass), Christian Youth Theater (electric and upright bass), Fredericksburg Academy Players (bass, drumset, guitar, auxiliary percussion), and the Rappahannock Pops Orchestra (clarinet, bass clarinet, timpani/aux. percussion). Read More

Instruments: Guitar, Saxophone, Flute, Clarinet

To me, it is most important that a student feels successful in what they have accomplished each lesson. Every student progresses at their own rate and it's important to give students attainable short-term goals in the service of long-term achievements. It is also important to know what drives each student and understand why they want to take private lessons. This will give the student a degree of inspiration which us as teachers can use to help them stay focused and interested in continuing with their studies. Read More

Instruments: Clarinet, Music

The short cut to playing the clarinet like a pro is actually the long way done properly. In other words, there are no short cuts. We will work with patience, persistence, and of course, with a metronome. We will set written goals and come up with reward systems. For serious students, in my studio, we will treat playing the clarinet like being an Olympic athlete preparing for a gold medal! Read More

Instruments: Saxophone, Clarinet

for the beginner student, we will start off by going through things such as scales, arpeggios, and exercises to build a solid foundation. While doing this, I will have the student pick a song they like, whether it be pop, country, jazz, classical, and begin to learn it by ear to begin to develop solid aural recognition. Once the fundamentals are solid, we will move on to either working on a sonata or concerto or a transcription and a tune (depending on if you are a jazz student or classical). Read More

Instruments: Voice, Clarinet, Recorder, Music

My teaching method is quite flexible depending on the abilities and skill sets of each student. For a vocal student, I will use solfege as a basic tool to advance sight-reading skills as well as functions of each scale degree in its harmonic structure. I believe that the ability to read music as a vocalist is crucial for further advancement as a musician. I will assess each student's current level of musicianship and design suitable warmups and vocalisms that will aid in preparing art songs that may also include foreign languages. Read More