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BA, Fresno Pacific University, Music Education, emphasis piano, violin, and viola performance
I love to teach students music and help them grow both as people and musicians. In 2009, I graduated from Fresno Pacific University with a Bachelor's degree in Music Education, and my primary instruments were violin, viola, and piano. After graduation, I continued to maintain my home studio where I taught individual lessons, and I also taught elementary orchestra for Chandler Unified. Since having my 2 kids, I teach from home exclusively, and I play in various chamber groups throughout the Valley.
I began teaching private lesson while in high school. It was during that time that I developed a love and passion for teaching music. Over the years, I have learned that each student is unique in how they learn and what they need. So I like to help each student learn in ways that are meaningful for them. Usually that means I take slightly different approach to teaching concepts to each student. I tend to structure my lessons for most students around 3 basic elements: scales, technique, and solo pieces. Solo pieces are usually classically based, but sometimes I like to introduce modern pieces like show tunes, jazz works, or hymns.
For Beginning piano students, I often use the Piano Adventures series. For younger beginners, I tend to enjoy The Music Tree books. For intermediate students, I like the Celebration Series. For beginning violin and viola students, I use All for Strings first, then followed by I Can Read Music paired with Suzuki Book 1. As students advance in their piano or string studies, we eventually step away from method books and study staple, classic repertoire by composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, and Bach. for each lesson, I write custom lessons plans based on the student's needs and interests.
My approach to teaching is gentle and warm while maintaining high standards of excellence for both my instruction as well as my expectations of my students. When we both strive to do our best work each lesson, we have fun and learn new things which leads to more interest and pride on the student's part. There is nothing more exciting in teaching than seeing students progress and be proud of what they have done. As for my instruction, I strive to get to know the student and be able to walk them through the steps that lead to success.