Oakland Music Lessons

ool, I continued through middle school. There I was placed on drum kit and thought I was the coolest. I didn't take it too seriously but serious enough to keep playing drum kit. When choosing high schools I wasn't interested in keeping with drums. I only took marching band because it meant no gym. After my first year I was placed in every band the next three years, having to learn timpani and marimba for concert band. I was also recommended to join a city wide concert band, InterSchool orchestras of New York, and haven't left since. I still coach the band and help tons of high school and middle school students hone their craft. Also that year, through ISO, I was given a chance to attend French woods performing arts camp on scholarship where I began my love of playing in musical pit orchestras. Through this time I studied with a couple of teachers and had plenty of coachings with professional percussionists. Upon graduating I have played well over 100 different musicals, played with over 25 different orchestras, and have taught over 100 students both privately and in coachings. I currently run a Drumline out of a private school, coach ISO band, freelance and have a studio of 8 students. That is a short sample of my journey and I hope it inspires you to study with me.

If you choose me as a teacher, I will shape you as an overall musician, not just a "Drummer". What this means is that you won't just learn beats from me, you will learn all the fundamentals of basic to intermediate music theory, from note reading and rhythm to chord changes and ..... You will start on a practice pad and quickly go to a drum kit. Lessons will be half and half, but more 75/25 drumkit, because everything you learn on a pad can translate to the kit! I would also teach you timpani and xylophone if you like so you can broaden your horizons and even get into the middle/high school or college you want. I have most of my books of pdf that I can give you to print or you can purchase your own copies. You would also need to purchase a practice pad and eventually a drum kit. If you don't want to purchase a drum kit then there is almost no reason to study it since you won't be able to practice between lessons. Practicing, let's talk about that. It is expected that you practice the material we learn in the lesson throughout the week. Now I know everyone is busy, but if you can put aside 25 minutes (a sitcom without commercials!!) a day then you will have a better understanding and better retention of the material. Doing this will let us just review the material a little bit and go on to learn new and exciting things.

The bottom line in choosing me? I am a professional musician in the trenches of the nyc music scene and know what it takes to make it.

a more sensitive player.

of his generation, having already been chosen as the Artist of the Year of the Pori International Jazz Festival 2011 and having an international career well on it’s way.

Born in the city of Lappeenranta, a lakeside town in southeast Finland, he began his musical studies at the age of nine at the local music institute with classical guitar and piano.

After finishing high school in 2008, H. began his studies at the prestigious jazz department of Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, where he got to study with Tim Hagans, Raoul Björkenheim and Teemu Viinikainen. He finished his Bachelor’s degree in June 2011.

In August 2011 he relocated to New York City to pursue his Master’s degree at the Manhattan School of Music, where he had a chance to study with such jazz luminaries as Rodney Jones, Dave Liebman, Jim McNeely, John Riley and Phil Markowitz. His curriculum there also included composing classical and electro-acoustic music. He graduated in the spring of 2013 with excellent grades.

H. has been performing with his own ensembles all around the world since 2008. These performances include festivals in Finland and abroad, including the Kennedy Center Nordic Cool 2013 Festival, UCLA European Jazz Festival, Sounds NEW Contemporary Music festival in UK, the main stage of Pori Jazz, the most famous jazz festival of Finland, and Tudengijazz in Estonia, and numerous clubs in New York and around, such as Cornelia St. Cafe, Bar Next Door, Bitter End, Stone Pony, Rockwood Music Hall and Caffe Vivaldi.

H. was nominated as the Artist of the Year of the Pori Jazz 2011 festival, which is one of the highest and the most visible recognitions in the Finnish jazz scene. Included in the award, his trio also worked as the house band for the 2011 festival.

The other ensembles he has been performing with are the international sextet Life Size, the trio Ohne, a winner of the Finnish Young Nordic Jazz Comets competition of 2010, and the big bands Umo Jazz Orchestra and The Great Helsinki Swing Big Band.

H’s debut album Detachment was released in April 2014.

cupy Olympus, performed by Magis Theatre Company at Flamboyan Theatre, New York International Fringe Festival in 2013.

, tailoring lesson plans to suit their personal goals and interests. I have experience playing and teaching an extensive range of styles including pop, rock, jazz, country, metal, and classical. One of my main goals is to foster a sense of musical understanding with every student so that they may learn to combine technical, theoretical, and aural skills into a unified whole.

Most students want to learn to play songs they know and love. To that end, I get students playing the music they want to play right from the beginning, often through personally crafted arrangements of songs/pieces of the student's choosing, specifically tailored to their current skill level. This way, technical and theoretical skills are learned through direct experience with actual music, and only very rarely through rote exercise.
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For more advanced players, I offer an array of strategies designed to take your playing to the next level. I find that the most common shortcomings of advanced players are conceptual. The technical skills are there but the level of conceptual and theoretical understanding has hit a wall. Many players find themselves playing the same chord shapes, melodic patterns, and harmonic progressions over and over again. I've had much success over the years in getting advanced students out of this rut and helping open up new pathways for exploration in both improvisation and composition.

Reggea, Ska, Rock, Pop etc.

As my student, you will develop critical skills that will help build a strong musical foundation which will define you as a musician. I will evaluate the level in which you currently are and provide a clear defined path in order to reach our goals.
One thing I strongly focus on is your love for music. My goal is not only to see you progress, but to love the music and have fun with what you are playing.

I can't wait to work with you and help you reach your ultimate goals!

r for people who have been playing standard synthesizers for a while and are curious about taking the leap to modular synthesis.