Amanda J

For those starting out with songwriting with little to no instrument experience, we take previous knowledge on their instrument(s) of choice and build songwriting skills with intuitive techniques, song form, and simple music theory using 3-4 chords and Major scales. Learning to arrange cover songs to make it their own comes before writing entire compositions but gets them ready for adding techniques to make their pieces more intricate. As students advance into intermediate songwriting, we write for specific genres, various Major & minor keys, and instrument-specific techniques. Advanced students will learn more chord theory for all genres, how to utilize recording techniques for composing, and expand skills for writing for other musicians.

Guitar is an instrument that can do more than just chords and riffs! Although we learn those concepts, beginning students start with melodies and rhythms, intermediate students do more with their chords by adding percussion techniques while learning to solo with their previous riffing knowledge, and advanced students apply the 12-note scale theory to learning and composing music. The type of notation we start with is tablature (TABs) and expand to include rhythm notation. Once students are able to apply different techniques to different songs, we expand to utilizing staff notation (music reading), composition, jamming/improvising, and more advanced techniques for various genres.

Students who start on bass learn how the instrument is a drum with strings as the foundation for melodic, chordal, and percussion instruments. This is done by learning grooves that progress from simple to more complex with techniques that make the instrument sing while being percussive. The type of notation we start with is tablature (TABs) and expand to include rhythm notation. Once students are able to apply different types of grooves to different songs, we expand to utilizing staff notation (music reading), composition, jamming/improvising, and more advanced techniques for various genres.

BEGINNING: establishing good habits of breathing from the diaphragm, relaxing the throat, and utilizing air to sing instead of "hit" the note starts out our vocal lessons. Warm-ups using scale degree numbers and syllables with steps, skips, and controlled scooping eventually progress to solfege and harmonies. For repertoire, enunciation is a crucial habit that naturally makes the voice louder and words easily understood, and pieces are chosen collaboratively by myself and the student so that they are challenging but not discouraging. If students are interested in specific singing genres, such as Pop, Rock, Musical Theater, or Jazz, we then focus on techniques for those styles. INTERMEDIATE: vertical and horizontal range, belting, and versatility between various genres. ADVANCED: tone manipulation, compression (grit), and focusing on specific styles to master vocal techniques that will help a student succeed with auditions and gigs.

Beginner-Intermediate-Advanced BEGINNING/LOWER INTERMEDIATE: with note names on piano with note-name notation that utilizes rhythms by rote (by ear) to establish internalized rhythm, body and hand positions, and finger positions. Alfred's Basic Piano method or Bastien Piano method levels are determined for the student after assessing how they did with the first part in order to learn music notation with notes on the staff and rhythms. Customized melodies for their rewards always utilizes note-name and/or music notation. Once students are ready for the challenge of changing positions, Hanon exercises 1-5 are introduced. HIGHER INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED: Scales, applying music theory to repertoire and composing, and specific genre studies to expose the student to various styles of playing while finding what they would like to focus on most.