Private Music Lessons Bass, Percussion, Piano, Voice & Music Theory

What’s the Most Important Thing?

There is no shortage of musicians looking to learn, and teachers willing to teach. There is also no shortage of resources for anyone to learn how to make music, either on an instrument or entirely in the box, say, on a laptop.

In other words, music has never been more accessible.
Yet progress stalls for many.

So what makes a musician stand out, improving their chances of not stalling?

After thinking about this for some time, I’ve narrowed it down to what I think is the single most important thing: playing with others.

Playing with Others

I believe that the students who value playing with other musicians see improvement exponentially quicker than those who remain isolated, playing mostly by themselves. This is especially true for musicians taking up melodic or single note instruments like bass, trumpet, or violin. Even then, solo pianists, guitarists, electronic musicians, and even composers must work with and learn from others.

• Playing with others provides instant feedback, because you’ll know right away your improvement areas.
  
  
• In other cases, you might find that other musicians motivate and inspire you in the moment, causing you to do something spontaneously that you didn’t know you were capable of.

Refer to the popular quote: “If you want things you never had, you have to do things you never did”.

If you want to reach new levels of ability, you must play with others, or at least spend time with other artists to learn from them. It doesn’t matter if you’re into metal, hip-hop, punk, house, or jazz.

My Approach to Teaching

My primary approach when teaching is to get you prepared for many different music situations, especially those requiring collaboration with others. This will allow you to network with other musicians sooner than later, setting up alternative streams of learning. A student may find personal differences with some musicians, and total compatibility with others: being able to collaborate well will maximize the chance of either situation turning into a successful project.

When I say success, I don’t necessarily mean popularity, or even an income–I mean the ability to finish something, by yourself or with others (personally, I find it much sweeter finishing a project with others).

It’s nice to read music, and it’s nice to learn records by ear: we will learn this.

It’s nice to write music, and it’s nice to record music: we can learn this as well.

It’s the greatest when you can take your knowledge and apply it to something more profound, out of your complete control.

This is how musical miracles like The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and White Stripes happened. Only they weren’t miracles: they were the result of musicians deciding to work together, then following through on that work. More importantly, they were learning constantly from the musicians around them. When working together, they listened intently to each other. It wasn’t just about the individual tone and ability of each player, it was their respect for each other and the final product.

If you decide to take lessons with me, I will be thrilled to teach you anything you wish to know. But count on learning to play with real musicians.

Musical Background & Styles

My primary instruments are bass and percussion, but I also teach beginner piano, vocals, tin whistle, and music theory.

My own musical background draws from jazz, folk, rock, Latin music, African and Afro-diasporic rhythms, singer-songwriter traditions, and experimental music. Because of this, I’m comfortable working across genres and helping students move between different musical worlds.

This also means I’m less interested in rigid genre rules and more interested in helping you develop strong listening skills, rhythmic feel, and a personal relationship with sound.