San Anselmo Music Lessons

I have played the piano on and off for 40 years but never really got into music theory. Alex has a great way of improving my technique in playing music and also finding exercises for me that make me FEEL the theory behind the music. It's great fun.

Mandy has been nothing but lovely to work with, Isabella Ruby has enjoyed her lessons and can't wait to sing more!

She was wonderful,knows what is needed to get things started.Felt very comfortable with her,can't wait for the next lesson.

Mandy is a great teacher! She is very patient and works with you at your own pace.

Although I only had 1 lesson with him so far, I can say he's a very good teacher and I had fun.

Vir is a gifted teacher. He has taught my son guitar for more than a year. He meets my son where ever he's at in his practice, attention and interests with calm, skilled focus and intention . Vir's background as performing musician infuses his teaching with an enthusiasm and creativity of practicing his teaching. We are truly grateful for Vir.

A Guru

Vir is beyond your typical vocal coach. He was a huge help on things like pitch accuracy and phrasing, but more than anything, his focus on getting me to tap into and harness my inner power has already paid huge dividends in my recordings and performances. Further, Vir is an amazing person to know and his home-studio in Berkeley is magnificent!

She's a good teacher . She also put up with me not knowing anything well.

Started with some basics and built on that. Was very helpful in showing me tuning, proper hand positioning, and how to improve my fingering (those pesky notes). Got a lot for the first class and enough homework to keep me busy! Will be meeting again next week.

Lesson was great fun. Judy is very good at making you feel that you're actually making progress and she is very patient with absolute rookies.

5 stars' teacher

We just had our first lesson and we hit a few bumps but my daughter has never had music instruction before so we're giving it another go next week to see if things go more smoothly. 3 stars above says meets expectations, and though it didn't, I just hesitate to give someone 2 stars based on one lesson.
Here are some details from class:
My daughter (K) just turned 5 but is pretty mature for her age and has expressed an interest in learning the piano so we signed up for individual lessons with Lella. At the start of class I mentioned again (I had noted it at booking time as well) that K has had zero experience with music instruction. Immediately Lella sat with K on the piano bench and started explaining treble clef sign, bass clef sign and what hands they relate to. Lella also has a thick accent as I was trying to follow along with her explanations with a little difficulty. She even asked if K speaks Chinese and I said "no" so she said "you're Indian right?" My daughter would look around from time to time while Lella was explaining at which point Lella would just keep seeing "Pay attention sweetie!" Then she asked my daughter to write the numbers 1-5 in a book and when she said she didn't know how to write the number 2, Lella laughed and said "you know, but you forgot right" so I spoke up and explained "no she has not been taught to write her numbers yet, but she can read/recognize them" to which Lella seemed very surprised, so I felt the need to say, "she's still in preschool. But if you write them she'll be able to tell you what they are." So then Lella switched to counts, explaining about the values of different notes. She asked my daughter if she had questions, to which my daughter said "I think I understand what you're saying, if it's just a circle that means four, but if it's a circle with a line..." And before she could finish her thought Lella said "no that's not a line, it's a stem". At another point when Lella asked if she had any questions, my daughter slowly said "yes... what's velour?" And when Lella looked confused I had to step in and explain that Lella was saying "value", the amount of counts for a note. By the end of the half hour lesson, Lella had reached her explanation of middle C, which she described to my daughter saying "this is middle C because it's in the middle, there are two black keys, then on the left is C. Can you find another one?" When K didn't respond right away, she repeated herself, and again another time. So I said "she really has had no previous music experience, I think you need to even explain to her that those are called keys, like there are black keys, white keys..." And Lella just looked at me confused.
At the end of the lesson I agreed to buy the theory book so we can practice that at home, and Lella asked if I can sit in on the next lesson to help explain things to my daughter, because she "doesn't really focus". I agreed to sit in on the lesson, for my own benefit so I can help her with HW since I also don't have music experience. But I also mentioned to Lella that her accent is quite strong and I think my daughter was having trouble understanding her, and Lella seemed surprised by that comment.
I don't know... it says on Lella's profile that she has worked with young kids but I can't really see how the class was any different from how she would teach me, an adult with no prior music experience.
Oh! I forgot to mention something so basic - when we met Lella she thought I was someone else so I re-introduced myself and introduced my daughter. Then as we were saying goodbye at the end of class I realized Lella had never introduced herself to my daughter, so I asked "oh, what would you like K to call you, Ms. Li, or Lella? Ms. Lella?" She said Lella was fine so I turned to K and said "Tell Lella bye K." It just hit me, I mean that's something about creating a relationship with a young student. Speaking to them directly, making that connection. Lella was really smiley which gave the impression she was friendly but she never really made a connection with K who is the student, not me.

Lella quickly recognized what I needed to practice and brought me a great book that helped me get back to where I was very quickly.

Very insightful and helpful. Instructed me a lot in terms of orchestral clarinet playing.

Lucian helped me before a UC Berkeley Chamber Orchestra rehearsal. He helped me with musicality and phrasing that I was struggling to understand and put into my music, as I was only playing the notes on the page. He really helped me to understand what was needed from a clarinet player in a chamber group, as I had only played in large ensembles before. Lucian was very patient and engaging, and his teaching style is very interactive and not at all intimidating. I would whole-heartedly recommend him to any clarinet player.

Lucian is a great clarinetist and a nice person. He always has positive feedback and has a way of really motivating his students with encouragement. I've known him for about 7 months now and he has really helped me improve my sound, intonation, technique and my solo and ensemble playing. I highly recommend him as a clarinet teacher as his mentoring is truly valuable.

Taylor is great with my 13 year old daughter. She is knowledgable, patient and nice.

Taylor, has been a very patient and perceptive teacher, helping me past the obstacles in my playing. She came up with exercises snd songs appropriate for the challenges i faced. I would strongly recommend her for a late beginner like myself.

great. my daughter had a first lesson with Taylor. she enjoyed it.