Piano with Matthew A.

Hello! Music has been my passion for all of my life, and teaching has been an important part of that passion. Private Lessons for me began at age 11, when I started studying with the great Charles Russello. I have been playing in bands since I was a youngster, starting a rock band with my pals when I was 14. During high school I became interested in jazz, so I started playing in my school's jazz-rock band, where I learned how to fit in with a large big band. Around this time I moved from writing simple rock songs to composing jazz harmonies and rhythms, and I learned how to read and write music. I went to college at Colgate Universtiy, where I studied compositions and took lessons from Rick Balestra, an amazing jazz guitarist in the upstate New York area. I also was an active member in the outdoor education program, where I studied teaching pedagogies, group dynamics, and leadership; I taught skiing, climbing and wilderness songwriting, a course I co-wrote to combine music composition with an outdoor experience. At Colgate I realized I had a knack for teaching music, so I began giving private guitar and songwriting lessons to my fellow peers. After I graduated college, I reconnected with my old band mates to form a new jazz fusion band, which performed throughout the northeast for 5 years; I was also teaching private lessons at this time. When the band broke up, I moved to New York to study jazz full time. I started a new jazz trio when I got to the city, and played plenty of jam sessions, where some of the best musicians in the world would stop in. When I met an amazing tenor saxophonist, the trio became a quartet, and then I added a piano player, so at this time I was writing for a jazz quintet, which was a highly educational experience. I also started teaching private lessons to my youngest student to date, an 8 year old girl, who is still a close friend and student. From these highly diverse teaching and perfoming experiences, I have honed my skills at developing lessons for students at any level and look forward to sharing these with you, the student! *** Lesson Details *** I cater my lessons for the needs and aspirations of each student. Every individual comes to the music teacher from a different background, and every student has different musical tastes. My job as a teacher is to help the student achieve their goals but also expose them to music that they may have never heard. I believe in a good balance between being strict and laid-back; you have to think on your toes and keep the student interested, especially with children. The first step for a beginner is to develop basic technique so they can make a good sound. Then I will teach songs the student wants to learn, scales, chords, arpeggios, etc. Learning how to read and write music is an important skill for any musician, so I teach that as well as voice training and keyboard, if the student has one. The more instruments you can play, the better musician you will be! *** Travel Equipment *** electric and acoustic guitar *** Specialties *** My focus as a musician is jazz, but I play and teach funk, rock, classical, soul, metal, bebop, fusion, etc.