Jessica S.

General Info

• Certified Music Teacher

  Certified Music Teacher

  Our rigorous hiring process requires a completed application; an interview with our professional recruiting specialists; personal and professional reference checks; and annual criminal background checks for the duration of each teacher's employment with us.

  
• Background Check Complete

  Criminal Background Check

  In order to ensure the safety of our students, all teachers undergo a thorough criminal background check, which includes: Social Security number trace, multi-state criminal search and a nationwide sex offender registry search.

  
• Levels: Beginner to Advanced

• In-Home Lessons: No
• In-Studio Lessons: Yes
• Ages: 5 & up

Subjects Taught

Piano

Education

University of California - San Diego - Mechanical Engineering - Aug 2008 - Mar 2011 (Bachelor's degree received)
Mesa College - Transfer Coursework - Jan 2008 - Aug 2008
Valencia Community College - Transfer Coursework - Jan 2002 - Aug 2003
Berklee College of Music - Music - MIDI Systems - Jan 1999 - Jan 2000

Specialties

I am most comfortable teaching classical music from beginning through advanced levels. I can also instruct in jazz/blues improvisational skills, comping changes, etc on a beginning/intermediate level.

Lesson Details

Everyone has a unique way of hearing music. This may not be a novel idea for you but it is central to the way I teach music. My primary job as a teacher is to help you develop your ear so that you can discern between sounds you like and sounds you don’t. Music is full of nuance and in order to understand why you like one performance more than another you must tune into these nuances. As you develop an aural palette for these sounds, we will be working on tools to create those sounds and ... subtle differences you hear.
Everything else (and I mean everything else) in a music lesson serves the purpose of helping the musician make a certain sound. Technique, theory, tone, agility, etc. all exist and are important so that we as musicians can accurately reproduce the sound we want to hear on our respective instruments. Because of this importance, I teach things as part of an integrative process so that you as a student understand how they all fit together.

I have spent my life figuring out how to make the piano sound like the internal track in my head (and I’m still working on this because it is impossible to completely master this). I use all of this experience in my lessons to help you achieve the sound you want in a way that will not cause injury and will encourage you to begin figuring out new subtleties on your own.

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About

My mother had a small upright piano in the living room throughout my infancy. She played and the sound mesmerized me. Around the age of 5 I began pounding on the instrument and apparently my incessant noise-making drove my mother to ask me if I wanted lessons. And that is how my love-affair with the instrument began.

I studied in private lessons from the age of 5 through graduating high school. My teacher in high school, Dr. Marjorie Lee, took my playing from that of an unwieldy talent ... to a polished, more professional sound. I learned the art of muscle control, relaxation and beautiful tone production from her. I also learned how to practice effectively and demand excellence in my playing. She prepared me to embark on auditions for college by entering me in many local and regional piano competitions in the Washington, D.C. area, many in which I placed or won.

After turning down a scholarship at New England Conservatory of Music, I attended Berklee College of Music for a year where I studied music technology and began learning how to improvise in jazz and contemporary styles. I left Berklee to pursue a more traditional academic program in the sciences. After studying for a few more years, I enlisted in the Marine Corps as a pianist.

I served as the pianist at the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Band in San Diego, CA for 3 years where I played many gigs as a solo pianist and in our jazz combo. In addition, I performed in many ceremonies as a piccolo player where I was a featured soloist many times. In 2006, I was chosen among the entire pool of Marine musicians as the Marine Corps Musician of the Year and received a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for the title.

Since returning to school and finishing my B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from UCSD, I have been using my 25 years of playing experience to build a piano studio in San Marcos and work on my solo career. I plan on returning to graduate school for piano performance and am actively in the preparation stages for this. In addition to solo recital performances, I work as a pianist for the Hyatt Aviara, local musical theater productions, and an accompanist for various musicians.

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