Voice Lessons in Brookline, PA

Instruments: Piano Voice Violin Viola Keyboard

Excellent, nurturing Suzuki violin pedagogy - treating music as a mother tongue to absorb, imitate, and engage with - informs my methods for beginning and intermediate students. Gradually, as the student shows readiness, we blend in the traditional yet humane study of expert violin playing and thoughtful musicianship modeled for me in Dorothy DeLay's masterclass. As distinct from many string players, I am also a devoted and accomplished singer. So breathing, posture, phrasing, color, line, and articulation are key to my approaches to making and teaching music, and thus to helping my students x22singx22 through their playing. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice Flute

For beginning piano students, I usually employ the Faber or Alfred Series books. They are intuitive and the various books (Lesson, Theory, Technique, Performance, etc) complement each other well! They also have an "older beginner" series that is great for teens and adults that are new to piano. I also encourage my students to try composition, even if it is very simple melodies. This is usually after they have established a good grasp on beginning music theory concepts.  For beginning voice, we begin half with the essential signing technique as well as the beginning musical concepts such as pitch, rhythm, etc. Read More

Instruments: Voice

My methods are practical and simple based on classical voice training. Each and every lesson is customized to suit the students needs at every level. I stress the importance of breathing, vowel placement and pronunciation. I utilize technology to provide lyrics, backing track accompniament and inspiring videos.Students love using vocal training apps which give a score like playing a video game.After teaching the basics in my own creative lesson plans for either child or adult, I use a series of vocal training course books from Berkley College of Music. Read More

Instruments: Voice

Recognizing that each student is unique, i.e., their instruments, learning styles, mental and emotional make-up, etc., I need to be flexible in how I work with each student. There is no one-size-fits-all! I work to understand each student's learning style and adapt my teaching accordingly. I ask a lot of questions, asking the student to think about their own learning style, what they are experiencing, hearing, and feeling. This not only gives me cues on how to better adapt my teaching style to them, but gets them thinking about what they are doing and reinforces their learning, which in turn helps them in their own practice by starting to become their own best teacher. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Saxophone

I like to keep my lessons fun. I realize that technique can be dull and dry at times but is a necessity in learning music. I like to mix technique with songs and styles of music the student is interested in so they get a full understanding of why technique is important and how it applies to songs and musical selections that are of interest to the student. A learning experience should be fun because for people, especially a child, something has to peak a willingness to learn. Read More

Instruments: Piano Voice

My general rule of thumb is, the younger the student, the less technique I will teach. Although I do not necessarily consider there to be a minimum age requirement for pursuing voice lessons, I do copiously encourage parents to be astutely aware of the potential risks encountered when young students are taught vocal and breathing techniques which should be reserved for intermediate or advanced students. My focus with younger students is to instill a passion and excitement for music while developing fundamental techniques. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Voice Bass Guitar Harmonica Banjo Ukulele Music Keyboard Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

Because I teach a variety of instruments and styles, each of my lessons is completely customized to each student. While progressing towards a Masters of Education degree, I learned the absolute importance of addressing different learning styles, and working one-on-one with music students gives me the perfect chance to do just that. I develop materials that best address each students style, and prefer to explore music that each particular student personally loves. Read More