Leave your instrument at home!
My Kodály-flavored approach focuses on ear training through sight singing and using the keyboard (even just a picture of a keyboard) to grasp the basics of music theory. If you’re confounded by key signatures or mystified by how on earth there can be such a thing as a C-flat or an E-sharp, that’s getting in the way of your ability to read! I can help.
Who benefits from this?
- Students of any instrument
- Choral Singers
- Solo singers (any style)
- Actors who sing
- Any musician wishing to improve reading skills
No matter what your instrument is or style, I can help you improve your reading and learn music more quickly. My unique approach combines sight reading with basic music theory so that not only will you be able to read anything and everything, but you’ll have a deeper understanding of how music works. All of this adds up to making you a better musician!
Composition
- Aspiring composers
- Singer/Songwriters (any style)
- Any musician wishing to explore composition
Whether you are interested in writing pop songs or orchestral pieces, I help you to master the building blocks of composition: form, harmony, melody, counterpoint, etc. Depending on my assessment of your goals and existing skills, I may advocate focusing on counterpoint or sight singing, as well as your own work. I consider mastering these skills to be a prerequisite for composing any kind of music.
My particular strengths include text setting and writing for the voice, as well as various aspects of music for the stage. Students interested in these areas are especially welcome.
I am an Oakland, California-based composer with a Master’s degree from the San Francisco Conservatory, and three years of post-graduate study at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, Hungary, where I was exposed to the Hungarian approach to musical education, known in this country as the “Kodály Method”. Here is my detailed bio. I am on the musicianship/composition faculties of both the San Francisco Conservatory’s Preparatory Division and Berkeley’s Crowden School. I teach in my home in Oakland’s convenient Glenview District and accept students ages 12 through adult. Contact me for details using the form below or just email me.
Contact Me
Please drop me a note here with any questions or to let me know how I might help.
