Cameron M.

My drum lessons start out very simple-focusing entirely on stick grip at first. Students can choose between matched and traditional grip. From there, we move onto just snare drum patterns, building internal rhythm metronome work involved. From there, simple grooves, and once the fundamentals are down, I like to have the students branch out into trying different genres, as well as choosing their own favorite songs to learn. Even songs that are too difficult are acceptable-throughout my years of teaching drums, I have many times arranged a stripped down score for difficult charts. More intermediate drum students start right at learning their own songs, but I keep a close eye on their hands to ensure they have proper technique. I often see intermediate students with a decent sound but terrible form, correcting improper stick grip or wrist motion, even for long time players is important to me.

I\'m a professional pianist, and a classical major. I am proficient in teaching technique, and I\'ve never had a student come to me with something I couldn\'t play or teach. I truly love the keyboard more than most things in life, and I want to show my students how freeing and beautiful the instrument is. My lessons start out with finger position-I like to hit certain pitfalls that intermediate pianists often have early. I make sure fingers don\'t collapse, wrist is loose, even when the students are still learning the white keys. From there, we learn basic technique drills typically out of hanon and move onto simple reading and songs. After basic proficiency is learned, we start working on more complex music, mostly directed by the student. Like in my drum lessons, I take my personal time to strip down hard songs into beginner or intermediate playable arrangements. Intermediate/advanced pianists start right on the songs they like, and just like drums, I have them go back to basic technique if needed.

I learned guitar while teaching at Bach to Rock music school in Westchester. Since then, I have really enjoyed learning on my own time. I can\'t teach advanced students, but I feel comfortable teaching the basics of both chords, scales, simple melodies, and theory.