Talmo, GA Music Theory Lessons

While at Georgia State, I had the good fortune to observe in action some of the most phenomenal musicians in Atlanta: Dwight Coleman, Dr. Peter Marshall, and Maestro Michael Palmer. Since that time, I’ve studied voice privately with bass Jason Hardy and soprano Sharon Stephenson, and I’ve fine-tuned, pun intended, both my vocal and pianistic musicianship by singing in choirs led by phenomenal directors like Dr. Eric Nelson, Walter Huff, and Dr. Dale Adelmann.

And not being a stranger to accomplishments in teaching (voice and piano), in 2013 I was recognized as a Top Teacher for student retention, communication with parents and staff, general positive feedback, and overall professionalism. In addition, both my voice and piano students regularly receive superior ratings at the local National Federation of Music Clubs festivals, pass ABRSM theory and piano exams, earn leading roles in school productions, and place in local talent shows.

P.S. For potential voice students, how many of you want to be a famous opera singer? My guess is, not many of you (to say the least :) However, what if I say, who would like to pretend they’re a famous bullfighter, a bird catcher (who likes to dress like a bird), an Ancient Egyptian, or a King or Queen while singing awesome music? Hopefully, more of you would try it. That’s why I love opera and classical singing. So I encourage you to watch, not just listen to, classical singing. You may be surprised at how cool it can be.

tronic keyboard, in the lessons.
Bass Guitar: I teach rock, pop, funk, and country music on bass.
Banjo: I teach bluegrass, country, and some blues and rock music. I can also teach a bit of old-timey frailing/clawhammer style.
English and Reading: I am highly qualified, to tutor/teach English (spoken, written, and reading comprehension) to both native English speakers and to those learning it as a second language.
*** I am particularly good at working with children who have a.d.h.d. and other learning disabilities!

pect my student to have or to rent his/her own instrument.

n of the voice for singing and speaking. Her goal is to help singers gain fulfillment and joy while improving their art. She believes music should be fun and rewarding.

VOICE STUDENTS of hers have won university placement and scholarships and have been accepted into Allstate Chorus for High School in Georgia.

She also teaches PIANO. She has taught piano for about 10 years. She studied piano privately for 10 years and had further study at Indiana University.

Students wishing to have any COMBINATION of piano, music theory, sight reading and/or vocal development can receive a program of study that meets their individual needs.

PERFORMANCE EXPERIENCE:
Mary Frances has performed with the Southeastern Savoyards Light Opera Company, the Atlanta Opera Chorus and Studio, the Atlanta Symphony Chorus, Marietta Theater in the Square, and Neighborhood Playhouse. She has sung title roles in Patience, Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel. Other roles include Josephine in HMS Pinafore, the Princess in The Student Prince, and Connie in The 1940'™s Radio Hour.

She has performed many roles with Capitol City Opera Company (CCOC) including Annina in The Saint of Bleecker Street, Bastienne in Mozart's Bastien and Bastienne, Nora in Vaughan Williams' Rider's to the Sea, and Gilda in Milton Granger'™s Talk Opera. She sang for many years in CCOC's school outreach program. She has sung many concerts for CCOC as well.

Mary Frances was a soloist in Handel's Messiah for Peachtree Presbyterian Church. She has worked as the soloist at The First Church of Christ Scientist in Roswell, Georgia and at The Second Church of Christ Scientist in Sandy Springs, Georgia ( This church has now closed). She occasionally directs and sings in the choir, and substitutes for the cantorial soloist at Congregation Dor Tamid in Alpharetta, Georgia.

EDUCATION:
Mary Frances holds a bachelors degree from Indiana University School of Music in both Voice and Theater. Mary Frances was a long time student of Elizabeth Colson (now deceased) of Atlanta, Georgia. She has attended Brevard Music Center, The Georgia State Opera Workshop and the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. While in Graz, Mary Frances was a finalist in the Meistersinger competition.

*LESSON DETAILS

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LESSON LENGTH:
Voice students: 30 minutes for young students up to 5th grade. 45 minutes for young students in Middle School and some 5th graders. 45 or 60 minutes preferred for high school students and adults. Piano students: 30 minutes for most beginners of any age. 45 minutes for young intermediate level and adult students.

TEACHING STYLE AND CURRICULUM:
ALL: My teaching style is relaxed yet progressive. I use positive reinforcement to encourage progress with adults and children. Students are allowed to progress at their own pace which varies with age, coordination, processing speed and previous exposure to musical education.

PIANO: I prefer the Alfred'™s Basic Piano Library series for my piano students. I find that my students learn more music theory and music reading with this series. If the student has started lessons in a different series, I can work with that as well. I have a large music library that provides a wide selection of music in addition to the Alfred books. I expect most beginning students to learn basic music reading and theory in 3 to 6 months. They should also to be able to play simple tunes in that time. I am an active professional singer, so I have a large library of vocal material at my disposal.

All piano students are REQUIRED to have an instrument to practice on at home. The piano MUST HAVE AT MINIMUM:
IF Digital - 88 full sized, weighted keys with polyphonic sound ( at least 10 keys should be able to sound at at the same time) and a sustain pedal,
OR - If Accoustic - maintained and properly tuned.

VOICE: I begin my voice lessons with breathing techniques and vocal placement using widely accepted exercises coming from a large body of sources such as:
Vaccai, professional level vocal teachers, coaches and directors that I have worked with and learned from over the last 30 years, and the writings of highly acclaimed authors in the vocal field. I also have a wide selection of art song books, oratorio, musical theatre, and opera. My background is classical and musical theatre, but I believe all styles of singing need the basic skills of breathing and vocal placement. I strive to keep voices healthy as well as find each student's most beautiful sound. Most students will see progress in breath control, range, projection and diction in 3 to 6 months.

Repertoire is chosen on an individual basis depending both physical and musical ability. Younger students and beginners will be encouraged to not push their voices with material that is too difficult for their individual abilities because singing requires a certain amount of physical endurance. My goal is to find each student's natural sound without strain for whatever style he or she
sings.

Voice students are encouraged to bring a recording device to lessons to use for later practice and study.

STUDIO EQUIPMENT AND LIBRARY:
Piano, Computer with Internet Access, Library of Music and Reference Materials (Sample Listing): Alfred's Basic Piano Library Books Twenty-Four Italian Songs and Arias, Medium High and Medium Low Voice; Schirmer Sing at First Sight; Alfred Basics of Singing by Jan Schmidt; Schirmer Many Soprano Collections of Arias, Oratorio, Sacred, and Art Songs from Schirmer Several Broadway Music Collections from Hal Leonard Discover Your Voice by Oren Brown Training the Speaking Voice by Virgil Anderson International Phonetic Alphabet for Singers by Wall Dynamics of the Singing Voice by Meribeth Bunch Classical Singer Magazine Subscription Journal of Singing, The Official Journal of the National Association of Teachers of Singing,Inc.Subscription

SPECIALTIES:
I am classically trained bel canto voice teacher, but I can work with broadway and pop styles. I teach sight singing for students pursuing auditions for All State Chorus and College entrance, etc. I use the Alfred Basic Piano Series for Piano students

rst-grade. I studied the piano through high school and entered college as a music major with piano as my principal instrument. I chose the flute when middle school band was offered and continued to play through high school and college. My degree course was classroom/choral music which lead me to be a University Singer at Ole Miss during my four years there. It's fair to say that music has contributed greatly to make me the person I am .

I lived in Yokkaichi Japan after graduation from college where I taught conversational English and served as a Christian missionary. When I returned to the Atlanta area, I began my music education career. My music library has grown to include books, cds and music in American Folk music, multi-cultural folk music, classical and jazz music. I've also had the privilege of gaining many hours of professional training in Orff Schulwerk , Kodaly, Choral education and working with young children .

My mission is to bring music to life in my lessons and my students' lives!

*** Lesson Details ***
I think my best teaching characteristic is encouragement. When you're learning something new, you need time to get it right. I use Alfred's Premier Performance series because it includes duets for the teacher and student to play together. This is a fun way to play rhythmically and have ensemble sound while getting started. Alfred also introduces multiple styles of music, simple folk songs to more complicated boogie and dance rhythms as well as classical selections. My students prepare music for the winter holidays and a spring recital. I introduce scales for students who are ready by the second and third year and supplement course books with popular and classical pieces.

*** Studio Equipment ***
Petrof studio upright piano, drums, CD's, library of supplemental piano music.

*** Specialties ***
Traditional method series instruction for young students through adult. I recently added the Musikgarten "Making Music at the Keyboard" curriculum to my method choices. The Musikgarten approach focuses on aural training, leading students to internalize the music they learn before playing it at the keyboard. It emphasizes hearing, singing and playing the rhythmic and melodic patterns before reading them. Like learning to read words, this approach starts with "speaking" the language of music followed by reading and writing it.

ful instruction, I will work with you to achieve your goals in a relaxed, and encouraging environment with positivity and praise.

l enjoys playing to this day. After writing many songs over the years, he was presented with the opportunity to record his first full-length album in 2015 titled, “Live in KC.” From this album, Ron received recognition from the electronic-pop artist Ampyx. The two collaborated to produce the song, “Shoot For the Stars,” which was signed by a record label after just three days after its release.

| Awards & Achievements |
Ron was the recipient of a four year, full-tuition music scholarship at the University of Tulsa, where he was named the Outstanding Senior for K-12 music education. He graduated with honors, achieving recognition on the President's List each semester. Prior to attending TU, Ron received the Charles Ferguson Music Award for outstanding contribution to the music program at Missouri Valley College.

g. Aside from the basic music theory 1 curriculum itself, he gave the class additional input that gave some of the concepts more context. I learned alot. Most of all, I appreciated his willingness to help me on an individual basis. I don't think I grasped some of the concepts as fast as other students, but Mr. Stampe was always there to lend a helping hand. At times, I'd run into him just as he was leaving the building, but he'd still help me with a homework problem or two. He didn't have to do this, but I'm thankful that he did. I'd recommend Mr. Stampe to anyone wanting to take Music Theory.

Mr. Stampe is an absolutely fantastic teacher. I doubt I would have learned as much as I did throughout the Aural skills sequence at UGA if he wasn't my instructor. He just has a way with teaching and getting concepts across that is very effective. He goes above and beyond to make sure no one in the class ever falls behind, and is very understanding and willing to give extra help. He's so great!.

I love Mr. Stampe, he was very helpful and took time out of his schedule to help me when ever possible! The only thing I would say is try to include more dictations in class, don't focus as much on theory behind it, deffinetly still go over it but just not as much. For example it really did help though when, you would go over the functions of each chord and note. Thank you for a great year!

I thought that Mr. Stampe was a very good instructor. He was always willing to meet outside of class to help you with questions. He also tried to explain things many ways when you don't understand. He is very smart and good at what he does. I hope to h