Voice Lessons in Baltimore, MD

Instruments: Piano Voice Keyboard

What advice do you have about practicing effectively?
Minimize distractions: It’s no surprise that your phone and computer can be big distractions if you leave them within arm’s reach during practice sessions. Put them where you can’t see or hear any notifications so you won’t be tempted to stop practicing to reply to a message “real quick” and end up going down a distraction rabbit hole. Focus on quality: Start slow if you’re new to what you’re practicing so you can make sure you’re doing quality work, like landing one dance move well before moving onto the rest of the routine. Once you feel comfortable, increase your speed but don’t lose sight of the quality of your practice. Divide your practice into sessions: Give yourself breaks in between practice sessions. Even professional athletes and performers take time between sessions to recharge so they can maintain the right quality level during practice. Use your imagination: Run through your dance moves, speech, or piece of music in your imagination when you’re not physically practicing. This can actually help you improve since many skills have a heavy mental component.

How do I know if my child is ready to start lessons?
1. Does your child know the difference between left and right? Playing the piano requires the use of both hands, so being able to distinguish one hand from the other is an important skill. 2. Does your child know the alphabet, specifically the first seven letters (A-B-C-D-E-F-G)? The musical alphabet is made of seven letters. It is important for your child to be able to identify and name these letters in order to read music. 3. Can your child count to ten? With really young beginners (age 4-5), I focus on counting to four. The note values and time signatures in beginner music focus on one count, two counts, three counts, or four counts. However, it is ideal if a child can count to a higher number as music is heavily based in math. Distance between notes (intervals) rely on counting the number of notes that separate them. Even the basic scale patterns are mathematically based. 4. Can your child focus and pay attention for 30 minutes? All of my beginner lessons are 30 minutes in length. However, I usually reserve ten minutes of each lesson to do more hands on music activities, especially for really young beginners. As a result, I need students to be able to focus and pay attention for a minimum of 20 minutes. 5. Has your child expressed an interest in taking music lessons? Children who have expressed an interest in taking piano are more likely to be motivated to practice. 6. Can your child follow basic instructions? Your child needs to be able to follow simple instructions for practicing the assigned material. 7. How are the child's fine motor skills? Can your child hold a pencil or cut with scissors? Playing the piano requires a lot of fine motor dexterity, so having well tuned fine motor skills makes a huge difference. 8. Can your child read? Teaching piano to a child who can read makes a lot of things easier, including practicing more independently and reading practice instructions on their own. Plus, beginner piano music tends to have lyrics for the child to sing while they practice. Being able to read allows the child to sing the lyrics while they play which can increase their rhythmic accuracy and timing.

If you weren't a musician what do you think you'd be doing instead?
If I was not a musician, I would be an Early Childhood Educator. Children are very important to me. I see so much potential in each child that I see. My passion is to make children follow their dream no matter what. I am the first person in my family to graduate from college. I believe that if it was not for the teachers that I had in elementary school, I would not be who I am today!

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