Policies and Information
Weekly, Bi-weekly, and A La Carte:
Lessons are held at different frequencies for each individual student. Most students schedule weekly lessons. Many others do Bi-Weekly sessions and several students will come in once a month or whenever they like, what I call A La Carte scheduling.
Booking and Cancellations:
I will always prioritize consistent students, especially in the popular hours of the day (3:00-8:00) and throughout the entire day of Sunday (11:30-7:30). All of my other available times remain open and flexible for Bi-weekly or A La Carte scheduling.
I try to keep a tight ship while also being flexible and accommodating as much as possible with cancellations and reschedules.
For any A La Carte scheduling, I will have an active waitlist that offers open slots to students waiting for a convenient time. I have common reschedules and cancellations with about about two spots opening up each week.
Notice of Cancellation must be given more than 24 hours in advance. Please let me know as much ahead of time as possible. That way I have sufficient time to offer the time-slot to other students who may be waiting for an opening.
For weekly students, one lesson a month can be credited to the following month. Any more than one cancellation is ideally rescheduled for another time. Because I must prioritize consistency, any student who regularly cancels is at risk of loosing their reserved time.
Remote options and payment:
Remote lessons are optional and usually held over FaceTime. I am happy to accommodate other remote platforms.
Payment is typically done through Zelle. Venmo and Cash are also usable.
For Weekly Students, I send requests over Zelle and Venmo on the 1st or 2nd of each month. For less frequent students, payment is done at your own convenience the day of or following the lesson.
Teaching Philosophy
Learning music is a personal experience that is different for every individual. Music is a vast landscape to learn from, and each person has different interests. Whether it is music theory, chord harmony, improvisation, reading ability, repertoire, finger-style, Salsa, Bach, or Jazz, each subject has something that can help your growth as a musician.
I try to create a curriculum that encompasses what each individual student is curious to learn. In a more general sense, I always try to incorporate short-term easier pieces, long-term more difficult pieces, technique practices, and applicable theory practices. This approach has been shown to help my students build a comprehensive understanding of their instrument that allows them to play what they want, how they want.
All this takes time and consistency. I try to emphasize the patience one must practice when learning an instrument. Many measurable developments in your playing will happen gradually without you noticing the immediate moment you get better. There will be days where you sit down to play and just realize, "Woah, I can actually do that now!"
"I think that music, being an expression of the human heart or the human being itself, does express just what is happening. The whole of the human experience at that particular time is being expressed. In any situation that we find in our lives, when there's something that we feel should be better, we must exert effort to try and make it better. So it's the same socially, musically, politically, in any department of your life."
John Coltrane