Piano with Carl J.

My love of music began at a very early age. By age five, I was improvising at the piano, and I started recording my jam sessions when I was twelve. Throughout middle and high school, I sang in a choir, and upon my graduation in 2000 from Rio Rancho High at the top of my class, New Mexico State University admitted me into its music department with a generous choral scholarship. I studied voice from 2000 until 2005 under a variety of qualified professors. I won a NATS competition in 2003. My senior vocal recital in January 2005 included two arias, art songs in German and French, some Gilbert and Sullivan, and a few show tunes. My major was not in voice, however, but in composition. I learned the fundamentals of orchestration both through coursework, and by studying Rimsky-Korsakov's treatise. I spent considerable time analyzing the stylistic qualities of the composers who moved me most: Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, and Dvorak. I continued to jam at the piano about an hour a day throughout college, developing an intimate understanding of chordal relationships and progressions. I began improvising counterpoint in the Renaissance and Baroque styles, later developing some of my dabblings into full-fledged compositions. By the time I graduated in 2005 with the highest GPA of my graduating class, I had completed a symphony, which I am presently arranging for band at the behest of Dr. John Richards, conductor of the Metropolitan Youth Symphonic Band. I believe that fluency with a variety of music languages is key to developing a truly original sound. Since I graduated, I have explored jazz, funk, and ragtime, and deeply enjoy improvising in these new styles. I even played in a punk rock band for a few months; not really my cup of tea, but it was quite an experience! My Philosophy of Music Music, more so than any other expressive medium, has the power to affect us emotionally. Music leads us to transcend ourselves. Through its influence, we might be uplifted to joyous elation, or moved to tears of sorrow. This magical quality explains why babies instinctively cry, and why all humans react emotionally to that noise. Visual images-- including words on paper-- can reach us emotionally, but not to this extent. Imagine reading a powerful essay. Now imagine a gifted orator reading that essay dramatically. Which captivates you more? The orator makes music of words. Try watching a movie with the sound muted. It loses most of its vitality, and much of what it retains is an artifact of your imagining the sounds. Music is about reaching people on an emotional level. So long as you can reach others using sound, and you reciprocate by letting the sounds of others move you, then you are not only a musician, but a good musician! *** Lesson Details *** People of all ages learn fastest and work hardest when they are motivated to do so. I tailor my lessons to accommodate the interests of each individual student. I emphasize understanding the music one is studying-- its structure, its harmonic language, and perhaps the circumstances of its composition where applicable. I encourage my students to make up songs of their own, or at the very least know how to notate their musical ideas. After three months, my beginning piano students can read music in treble and bass clef. They can play major scales in most or all keys, play simple songs with block chords in the left hand over a melody in the right hand, and understand common musical symbols and terminology (such as the fermata). As the student progresses, he or she learns longer pieces with progressively increased independence between the left and right hand; this is easily the greatest challenge for any fledgling pianist. We then begin to focus on interpretive elements: dynamics, tempo rubato, ornamentation's, etc. *** Specialties *** The art song, specifically Schubertlieder. I have studied dozens of his songs, and I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that he is the composer, among all the great masters who lived before us, who is most relevant to modern 'popular' music. His brilliant harmonic tricks and melodic inventions permeate today's catchiest songs. I am confident that "Erlking" could be a #1 single if played by bass, guitar, and drums.