What's included
1 live meeting
55 mins in-class hoursClass Experience
I have played guitar, piano, bass, and drums for over 30 years. At 43 years, I think I'm just starting to get better. Music is a deep study that I take seriously. Every instrument has its own idiosyncrasies but there are commonalities between all musical instruments. This is an open discussion class where I will take learners through my musical journey from heavy metal guitar rocker, to electric bass whiz, to piano teacher and professional double bassist. I will start with the guitar and show demonstrations of songs I first started learning. Then, I will talk about switching to bass and about how playing drums in High School marching band helped me develop my sense of rhythm. After, I will hop on the piano and talk about how learning the piano helped me pull all of my studies together. Finally, I will talk about the double bass and how classical and jazz studies are now the things I focus on. In this class I will cover: -Practice habits, how long and how much time we should dedicate to our studies? -Is Youtube a good place for lessons? Should we seek out a private instructor? -Live performance and how should we deal with stage fright? -Music as a lifetime pursuit and how to always seek out the next challenge We will make time for Questions and Answers and try to satisfy everyone's musical curiosity. Ask away, I am here to help!
Learning Goals
Students will get insights on musical performance on multiple instruments from a professional musician.
Other Details
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Teacher expertise and credentials
Hello, I teach guitar, piano, and bass classes for the ages of 6 and up. I also specialize in music theory and jazz harmony.
I began teaching music in 2002 and it has been my primary profession ever since.
I believe in teaching the fundamentals. Reading notation is a must. Deciphering chords, understanding harmony. The facts of music take priority in my lessons. I believe that everyone has limitless potential to be whatever kind of musician they would like to be.
Note to parents:
Here is my recommended learning path for my piano students:
1. Introduction to Piano Fundamentals- for the pure beginner. Young learners will find this class simple to grasp and loads of fun. This class is a great way to establish good habits from day one.
2. Piano Fundamentals 2- This is a class where we focus on reading music notation. Any learner with a bit of piano experience who is unsure of their reading can start here. Reading music is essential in your piano journey and learners who cannot do this well will struggle in these courses. This class is highly recommended.
3. Piano Fundamentals 3- Where we learn to master the art of practice and play through the rest of the beginner method book
4. Intermediate Piano Course 1- We jump to the big leagues and master basic chords in C and G position. We move quickly and play more advanced pieces. Quality practice is essential for success in this class.
5. Intermediate Piano Course 2- Hanon exercises, an expanded rhythmic vocabulary, and more sophisticated piano pieces are covered in this course.
6. Intermediate Piano Course 3- Scales, technique, and longer pieces in different keys.
7. Intermediate Piano Course 4- We will learn about minor scales and get to the end of the Alfred Adult All-In-One Course book.
8. Advanced Piano 1- We make the jump into the Alfred Adult Level 2 book.
9. Advanced Piano 2- We continue through the Level 2 book.
10. Advanced Piano 3- We cover the keys of E minor, D Major, and the chromatic scale
11. Advanced Piano 4- Chord inversions are covered as well as 2 part writing
12. Recital Ready- This is an ongoing class where we cover famous piano literature in a group setting. This is the highest level group class that I teach and it is recommended that learners cover all previous levels before enrolling. 🎹
I also have a new class called "The Piano Player's Toolkit" that covers various topics related to piano playing and music theory. The amount of practice time is less than in the academic classes, and this is more of a casual weekly learning experience. Here is the link to the class:
https://outschool.com/classes/the-piano-players-toolkit-fn0Try2k?usid=nGt6td9A&signup=true&utm_campaign=share_activity_link
I’m a father and a husband and I love what I do! I was the primary bassist for The Daytime Emmy Awards show from 2016 to 2019.
Reviews
Live One-Time Class
$10
per classMeets once
55 min
Completed by 4 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 8-13
3-18 learners per class