Upright Bass Lessons in Valley Cottage. Amazing Teachers.

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.

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

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 name is Jerry. I LOVE music and passing my knowledge on to others. I have played many different instruments in many different kinds of bands. It all one major thing in common, it was FUN! If you are not having fun while learning an instrument you won't want to learn. Lessons can be fun AND educational at the same time. I have had many parents tell me I'm one of the best teachers they have ever seen. (A couple of them were public school teachers themselves). I truly want my students to succeed and I will do everything in my power to help them accomplish that!

Lessons will be catered to the individual students needs and musical aspirations. As a versatile, free-lance bass player, I'm specialized in a wide variety of musical styles and am able to guide students towards any goal they may have. For all styles, I will be incorporating lessons I learned while studying with a master musician in India.

Jazz lessons will focus on technique, ear training, transcribing, music theory, rhythmic strengthening, and understanding the responsibilities of the bass player.

Students can expect a teacher that addresses every single aspect of learning orchestral upright bass: from honing bow technique, to left-hand formation and fingering choices, to reading musical notation, interpreting music and learning rhythm.

My goal is to help students develop a technical foundation on the bass for playing just about any kind of music that they are interested in, and to support students with practicing tips for areas in their playing where they want to improve. My specialty is symphony orchestra training, so I primarily use both the Essential Elements for Strings books and Suzuki Bass School series at the beginning, and then later as students make progress, I begin to introduce standard orchestral repertoire, sonatas, and concertos written for the bass. I have been teaching since August 2016 and so far I have helped students get into All-States, ensembles at the New England Conservatory Preparatory Division and Berklee College of Music, Districts/Regional ...