Corona, NY Upright Bass Lessons

College Performance Degree in Bass
Diploma from Grove School of Music in Bass
20 years professional experience of Bass Playing

As a professional upright bass player for the past eight or so years, I have toured both domestically and internationally. Drawing from these years of experience, I can help you with any thing from the basics to what to know for a professional gig. I can teach classical technique, Jazz soloing/walking, how to get good sound/intonation, and give help for those trying to bridge the gap into the professional realm.

All styles, all levels- Classical, jazz, rock, blues, you name it! Emphasis on developing a good technique for playing in tune with ease!

My primary goal with all of my students is to help them make great music that is true to themselves. I also try to stick with a sound-before-symbol approach to learning music. What this means for my teaching is a focus on training both the ears and technique. I always prefer a more personalized approach to teaching, working with students to find repertoire that speaks to them and improves their musicality and technique.

My classes are very flexible when it comes to what the student wants. I can go from just teaching very basic bass playing to advanced harmonic concepts and jazz improvisation. On the first class, I give the student the choice of controlling our lessons materials about what they want to learn. Or the student can choose to let me control our classes, in which I will bring my own materials and ideas in which we should work and will go through the whole academic process of learning music.

I've been playing in jazz ensembles, big bands, orchestras, country bands, etc, for more than 15 years. I will guide you to mastery on the upright bass through sound fundamental education and transcription.

Being an active and experienced musician gives me the necessary knowledge to know what is needed on order to become a better musician. Also having over 20 years of teaching experience allows me to tailor my knowledge to the need of every particular student. I really enjoy to transfer my knowledge and solve the unique musical problem that every student encounter during their musical path.

I'm a motivated and good listener teacher who loves to see his students accomplish their objectives. I have a Masters degree in Jazz from the Manhattan School of Music and a Bachelor in Classical Double Bass from the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Austria. I'm a active musician, both as a leader of my projects as well as sideman. I have played all around Europe, Egypt as well as much around in the New York area. I have also released two albums under my name, composing all the music in both of them.

I have been teaching for 5 years. Right after finishing my Bachelor degree, I started teaching in two major schools where I taught double bass, piano, music theory and conducted the school's orchestra. Since I moved to New York, I taught through the Manhattan School of Music Outreach Department, teaching young students about Jazz and Improvisation. I have also taught privately in my home studio.

My goal as a teacher is to give you the facility to express yourself through music. The key parts to developing this facility are:

1. theory -- if you know your theory, you know the best way to express your idea without having to think about it
2. technique -- the last thing you want is for your technique to hinder your ability to express your idea. Having good technique lets your ideas flow naturally

When you take lessons with me, you get out of it what you put in. Your job as student is to be honest with what you expect to achieve and my job as teacher is to give you the tools to achieve it