Hollywood, FL Songwriting Lessons

ts up my students for long-term success.

*** Equipment ***
It is preferred that private students have a piano or full size keyboard.
I also provide games, piano accompaniment tracks, and other accessories to make lessons more interactive and fun.

*** Specialties ***
Jazz, Gospel, Pop, Blues, Group Piano

rriculum. A couple of years later in 1998, Frixos found his true calling … music composition, Jazz and the Saxophone. Frixos’ purple tenor sax goes everywhere he goes!

“Part of my love for the Saxophone is rooted in this instrument’s versatility for improvisation.” Moving into music composition seemed a natural course for Frixos to follow, culminating in his graduation in 2013 with a University of Florida Music Composition BA from The New World School of the Arts in Miami.

“I was fortunate to be selected to play in various collegiate and other Jazz bands and be mentored by great jazz performers and educators.” Among them was Ed Calle, twice nominated for the Latin Grammy Award; Joe Donato, one of the most active and innovative musicians working in the field of jazz who has performed with many of the greats including Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Carmen McRae, Nina Simone, Jack Jones, and Arturo Sandoval; Rafael Valencia where “I was honored to play for his Latin Jazz Big Band” says Frixos; the wonderful pianist Jim Gasior who has played with Ed Calle, Wendy Pedersen, Fernando Ulibarri and Aaron Lebos; the published and well decorated guitarist Dr. Mike Di Liddo, to name a few.

Of course there were lesser known people that had a profound influence on Frixos for which he makes it a point to say that he is “eternally grateful”. He adds, “My passion for composing was further affirmed thanks to Dr. Susan Epstein Garcia who showed me that there’s no limit to musical expression.” Dr. Ferdinando De Sena brought Frixos another dimension through his teachings of electronic music.

Frixos seeks to create variety in his compositions, by using worldly rhythms and sounds expressed through a multitude of instrumental expressions to create his own unique contemporary sound. “I look for connections between different music genres, from classical, rock, pop, funk, reggae, fusion, jazz etc. These connections are what I bring to my music” continues Frixos.

In October 2007 Frixos released his first CD titled “Cause Frixion” which was dedicated to fund-raising for The Epilepsy Foundation of Florida. This album included a tune he wrote earlier that year called “Freedom”. Other works have been published more recently on the internet, namely cdbaby, iTunes etc. and are played on internet radio stations.

Frixos continues to perform gigs with different musicians and bands in venues around the Miami and Ft. Lauderdale area, including recording sessions for Fourth Dimension and others. He plays multiple instruments including alto, soprano and tenor sax, flute and keyboards. His performances comprise events at the renowned Van Dyke Café on Lincoln Road; Avenue D; Crescendo Jazz and Blues Lounge; Churchill’s Pub, a bastion for local musicians; Tobacco Road, the oldest music bar in Miami; Blue Jean Blues in Ft. Lauderdale where Al Kanovsky for The South Florida Jazz Scene wrote on October 15 2012, “They continued, raucously on, with everybody, musicians and audience having fun. A young man walked in, sax case in hand. Joe (Donato) invited him up to jam. What can I say. His name is Frixos, (yes it's right) and this kid can blow.”

rn how to read basic music, but I can teach you how to play by ear too. Before we have completed our series you or your children will have basic knowledge of all these things and a desire to explore at least some of these aspects further.

For me, the most interesting music reveals the unique perspective and feelings of the person who makes it. Having conquered the essentials I will encourage you to be creative with your developing talents. I can teach you about song structure and I can teach you how to jam with your friends. If you are interested in writing and composing, I can help you with that too. We can take a look at your favorite artists and try to discover how they accomplished and perfected their sound. If you want to learn how to record I have a computer equipped with Pro Tools and would be glad to show you how to use it.

You'll spend time listening to me of course, but I hope to spend much of my time listening to you as well. If reading music doesn't inspire you we can focus more on learning by ear. It's up to you. You'll need your own instrument obviously, though you can leave it at home if you don't want to carry it back and forth. I have guitars here. I request that you purchase a book with text and exercises so that you can practice and study what you learn in the class. Even if you do not want to read music, you will need to know the neck and conquer scale formations and chords. We can choose the text based on your needs.

*** Studio Equipment ***
Six guitars, a keyboard, a computer equipped with Ableton and Reason, interface and MIDI controller.

Equiptment

GUITARS
Fender American Deluxe Telecaster
Fender 65 Mustang
Martin Koa Acoustic
Breedlove Acoustic/Electric cutaway
Gibson 12-string acoustic
Danelectro 12-string semi-hollow electric

AMPS
Fender Cyber Twin Deluxe
Line 6 Spyder III

DIGITAL PIANO
Yamaha YDP-141

RECORDING EQUIPTMENT
Saffire 6 USB Interface
Novation Zero SLMkII USB mixer
Akai LPK25 MIDI keyboard

SOFTWARE
Ableton Live 9
Reason 6

*** Travel Equipment ***
I can travel with any of my guitars and my Lunchbox amp is also easily portable.

actice. They are then empowered by experiencing the connections between inspiration, work, and pleasure.
He performs, as a solo entertainer, an unusually wide ranging repertoire because of his versatility on guitar, piano, and vocals. Being an accomplished arranger with a vast library of charts also allows him to lead a ten piece orchestra as competently as a trio or quartet. He has performed extensively in New York, Chicago, Cape Cod, and Florida.

*** Lesson Details ***
I always try to make lessons as comfortable and enjoyable as possible yet challenging enough to maintain interest. I build lessons around the student's individual interests (specific songs or styles) so that he or she can learn the technical fundamentals in a relevant context.
My own curriculum is supplemented by the following:
Guitar: Hal Leonard Guitar Method, Aaron Shearer Classical Guitar Method
Piano: Alfred's Basic Piano Course , John W. Schaum Piano Course
Voice: Jeffrey Allen's Secrets of Singing, Nicola Vaccai Practical Method

*** Studio Equipment ***
Hardman baby grand acoustic piano
OptimusMD1600 electronic keyboard
Crate TX50D guitar amplifer

*** Specialties ***
- Singing lesson time is generally divided 50/50 between voice building and repertoire. I accompany vocalists on both piano and guitar, teaching the melody notes as they are sung along with the piano. Then, once the melody is learned, I often switch to the guitar with just chordal backing. The acoustic guitar is also softer than the piano and lets the singer hear their own voice better. For voice building, I use my own concepts plus approaches of famous voice teachers like Jeffrey Allen, Seth Riggs, and Anthony Frissel.
- I am very experienced performing all styles of guitar and can cater to the student's specific area of interest, whether it be rock, folk, classical, or jazz.
- With piano, I work on fundamentals of reading and technique. Learning basic harmony and chord construction starting with triads (3 note chords), the student can soon read single stave lead sheets (a form of music notation widely utilized by professional musicians) as well as the grand staff. This approach trains the ear and makes learning how to play popular songs much easier.

in in the simplest manner the many concepts of music. I help students develop good habits of practice so they can improve their skills by giving them personal tips. Each student is unique and learns at a particular pace. I'm in tune with the student and move accordingly helping him/her navigate thru the music lesson while providing assistance towards reaching their specific goals.

*** Studio Equipment ***
Piano /keyboards/ protools in my studio with living room seating for parents. Coffee/water always complementary. Protools recording studio available for my student singers at discounted rates. Affordable and competitive rates for amateur-professional singers looking to record/produce a demo.

*** Travel Equipment ***
None. Currently not traveling to students homes. Lessons available at my studio only.

*** Specialties ***
Studied Jazz & Classical. Performed Pop, Rock, R&B and Latin musical styles.

y, piano technique, reading and writing notes, improvization, composition, and more. For us creativity is first. We constantly encourage our students to be creative from the very beginning. Our method is a complete system for learning the piano that includes books, rewards, teaching materials, musical story books, recordings and video tutorials accessible online. When you Join us, you will become part of a creative and dynamic studio! You will learn how to see the connections present in music and to transfer all that knowledge to other aspects of your lives. I hope to meet you soon to start a very exciting musical learning journey!

, paying to perform, falling short of budget, trading soul for fame and many other beauties of this industry in my journey to try to make a living out of expressing myself.

My goal today is to use my experience to shorten the learning curve of others. My scope is on keeping you focused on your craft and introducing you to technologic tools that will allow you to keep expressing yourself purely and make it a sustainable lifestyle or an empowering hobby by seeing progress and results.

Stay focused on your dreams

Rodolfo