Private lessons with top Saxophone instructors near Pittsburgh, PA

If you want playing the saxophone to feel as natural as singing in the shower, then this is the course for you! I teach all levels of students from beginner to advanced, with a heavy focus on transcription and ear training. Everything in my curriculum is designed to make playing easy, natural and fun. Whether you want to play like Charlie Parker or learn all of the Beatles' greatest hits, we'll work together to help you make the music you've always wanted to.

Tired of being frustrated by the pace of self-teaching or is your child bored with the progress in school band class? Are you an adult who never played an instrument but are really interested in learning a wind instrument? Not able to express yourself creatively or don't really understand why your favorite songs or styles of music work? Do you want a more hands-on way of teaching with personalized plans just for you? Learn how to play the Saxophone with Michael! Michael teaches a variety of instruments and subjects in the woodwind family: - Saxophone - Clarinet - Flute - Improvisation - Music Theory - Jazz Studies Michael creates versatile and fun lesson plans that incorporate learning your favorite music while teaching theory, improvisation, note reading, songwriting, or any other interests! He has an easy-to-follow, fun, but yet structured and thorough plan designed for results to help the student reach their goals, rather than imposing an one-size-fits-all plan just from lesson books! Michael teaches anyone from kids to adults and seniors and encourages all students to be creative while really understanding the music they play. Michael incorporates classical and traditional music into lesson programs alongside modern styles to create diverse and interesting repertoire!

My goal as a teacher is to provide an in depth understanding of the instrument to my students. Whether we are learning technique specific to the instrument or general musical concepts, it is important to me that I take the time to insure that my students not only learn how to do something, but also the reasons why we are learning a specific concept or technique. At the end of the day, my ultimate goal is to teach you how to teach yourself, so that you may enjoy playing the instrument outside of our lessons together. I prefer not to conform to a specific teaching style, because every student is different, and I have been fortunate to have a great variety of types of students throughout my years as a teacher. Some of my students are children and adolescents who are looking to pursue music when they go to college or auditioning for state and regional band programs. Many of my students are very busy adults who are either looking to pick up an instrument for the first time as an escape from their everyday hectic lives, or they are coming back to an instrument that they put down years ago and looking to have a good musical experience again. I also have very young students who have parents looking to get there child into learning an instrument for the first time. For my child/adolescent future musician students, I will teach with a much more structured atmosphere and focus on all of the aspects of technique and music theory that they would be expected to know and play as they move closer to a professional level. For my busy adult students it is always a case by case basis. For those who have previous experience, I typically like to address teaching them how to play styles of music and tunes that they want to learn to play. For those who are new to music, I take them through a step-by-step process for learning the basics of the instrument while simultaneously teaching them how to read music. And in either case, many of my adults have busy professional lives where sometimes the only time they have to play their instrument is when they are in a lesson with me. That's ok. NO JUDGEMENTS! If the only time you have to play is during our lesson, then I'll find something new for you to learn at each lesson. For my young beginners it is all about having fun while playing music. While these lessons are also very structured, I also prefer not to be the stereotypical stern music teacher. I've heard way to many horror stories from my adult students who had mean and impatient teachers when they were children. I would say that my philosophy with my young students is an amalgamation of my approach with my busy adults students and my child/adolescent future musician students. I want to make sure that they are learning, but never discouraged.

I teach beginning saxophone students basic note reading. Advanced students can learn theory and improvisation.

Extensive music theory application and rhythm concept.

I have been training on the saxophone for upwards of twelve years! I have been giving lessons since 2015, and I am qualified to teach beginner to advanced players. I've earned top chairs in my county, district, and state, and students of mine have gone on to do the same in their own ensembles! I have also played in select honors bands, such as the Great American Marching Band in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I am a skilled teacher, having served as a middle school teacher's assistant and summer camp music instructor. My prices are competitive because I simply want to share the joy of music with you or your student! What to expect when you take lessons with me: -Flexible scheduling -A judgement-free, creative environment! -A free PDF of the saxophone fundamentals workbook with which I teach, as a supplement to personalized lesson-planning. (CANCELLATION POLICY: I will do my best to reschedule lessons with students if I am notified at least 24 hours in advance. Otherwise, the missed lesson will be paid for in full.)

I am very excited to teach you all what my 23 years of experience in playing the saxophone can bring. I can teach children to adults, beginner to advance players the tools to become a great musician. I workout of various books to suite the students playing level. I also use a metronome , tuners , sheet music all to help develop good habits. I work with adults , kids and teenagers that need assistance with audition or to become more effective in their school band. You must practice at least a 30! mins a day to reach the goals you require . Contact me and you will be on your way to becoming a great musician.

I will teach you the fundamental basics as well as some tricks I learned from various artists I've played with. We will be using the Jamey Abersold books, Bob Mintzer books, and some of the tunes in the fake books. Also we will work on scales. I will also teach you how to write and compose your own music using my background music I send you.