Taylor S
Instruments: Piano, Organ, Keyboard
Styles: Jazz, Pop, Rock, Blues, Country, R&B, Funk, New Age, Soul
Taylor S
Instruments: Piano, Organ, Keyboard
Styles:
Jazz, Pop, Rock, Blues, Country, R&B, Funk, New Age, Soul
Where I Teach:
In Your Home
Ages Taught: 6-75
ABOUT
Degrees / Training / Special Info:
BM, Columbia College Chicago, Piano Performance (Contemporary, Urban and Popular Music)
Overview:
I'm a pianist, keyboardist, and singer-songwriter. I'm originally from St. Louis, MO, and I moved to Chicago in 2008 to pursue a degree and career in music. In 2013, I graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance, specializing in popular styles of music such as rock, blues, and pop. That same year I became a full time member of The Nick Moss Band, a blues/rock/jam band based in Chicago. Over the past two years I have had the privelige to play at some of the largest Blues festivals in the world, and have also played in Germany, Norway, Poland, and Canada. Before joining The Nick Moss Band, I was a member of various blues/rock and jam bands around the city of Chicago, and also played with various pop artists and singer songwriters. I am heavily influenced by blues, rock, pop, and jazz pianists. Some examples would be Elton John, Bruce Hornsby, Jerry Lee Lewis, Vince Guaraldi (Charlie Brown), Keith Jarrett, and Otis Spann. I consider myself a bit of a "late bloomer". I didn't start playing piano seriously until I was 16 years old, but a lot of hard work has gotten me to this point, and I am excited to continue to hopefully inspire others and help them love all types of music!
EXPERIENCE
My teaching experience goes back to college when I would help out non-piano playing music students for their piano class. (Yes, if you go to school for music, you have to learn some piano, no matter what!). I've also taught students as young as 7, and I was a piano and band instructor at Columbia College Chicago's Blues Camp, which is for students ages 6-18. I was also a keyboard instructor at School Of Rock before having to leave due to touring with Nick Moss. I have been on tour a good amount for the past year and a half, so I'm just getting back into teaching again. My main hope when teaching is that my students enjoy making music with the instrument. Again, I started late as a musician, and I am always excited to help anyone at any age make music!
METHODS USED
I do not use any textbooks or piano method books in my teaching. I am almost completely self taught, but have had success with my own methods of teaching piano. I have my own musical examples written out, which I can easily print or email for students. For beginners, I generally focus on basic technique and practice routine. Once the student has mastered some fundamentals (scales, chords, etc.), I introduce beginning level repetoire and start with basic sight-reading techniques. For intermediate and advanced students, I like to figure out what kind of popular music (rock, blues, jazz, pop) that they would like to play and learn more about, and then learn repetoire or basic techniques in that particular genre. Again, I specialize mainly in popular styles, and am not much of a classical player. My hope is to give intermediate and advanced classically trained students a good foundation in popular styles, and once the foundation is there, start working on repetoire. One of my specialites is arranging pop songs for solo piano performance, so that will also be a part of advanced lessons.
LESSON STYLE
I am very, very laid back as a teacher and as a person. I know that everyone learns at their own pace, and not everyone can give themselves an hour a day to practice. It's really about finding out every student's individual needs and style. I am not strict whatsoever, but I do expect my students to make progress every week. Again, I am not a classical pianist whatsoever, so I'm not the type of teacher to stand over you and hit your hand with a ruler every time you hit a "wrong" note. There are no wrong notes! You're always just a step way from it being right!
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