Singing with Heather R.

Hello future student! My name is Heather R., I'm a voice, guitar, songwriting and audio technology teacher, experienced in teaching students of all ages, backgrounds and levels of learning. I specialize in blues, rock, jazz and folk. I am a professional musician in the Austin area, while working on my Master's Degree in Acoustics at UT. In the past I've won awards for my songwriting including first place in the blues category of the 2009 West Coast Songwriter's Competition and Honorable Mention in the Berklee College of Music Songs for the Social Change Contest, also in 2009. I graduated from the Berklee College of Music in 2010 with a Bachelor's Degree in Professional Music. Ever since I've been working as a music teacher, performer, audio engineer and songwriter. I know a lot about the music business and the music world. I want to help you obtain your musical goals and find the pro musician within! Mostly I want to help you build your self-confidence and develop your musical craft! I truly believe anyone can obtain their musical dreams, it just takes hard work, dedication and the right guidance. *** Lesson Details *** I set up a list of goals that a student wants to achieve over the course of several weeks. I make sure these goals are challenging for the student, while being realistically obtainable. These goals can vary from learning the chords to a particular song, learning the solo of a song, getting ready for an upcoming audition, mastering a scale or mode, anything! I like to break things down into digestible chunks for the student. I never want a student to feel overwhelmed or discouraged. While working on these goals I simultaneously slip in technique and music theory. I don't like to beat a student over the head with theory, but I do think it's important to learn and be exposed to it while you're working on your goals. Theory can be a very powerful tool for a musician. Whether it's as elementary as knowing what a twelve bar blues is or as advanced as tonal counterpoint, knowledge is power! I’m going to push you in a positive way to work hard everyday to achieve your goals. I want you to feel the satisfaction of working hard, making progress, achieving your goals and being proud of yourself for what you've accomplished! I won’t tolerate laziness. I will always be honest with you as to where you are with your progress. Unfortunately there are no shortcuts in learning. You've got to put the work in. It will pay off, I promise! *** Studio Equipment *** Online Lessons Only In my studio: -Piano -Guitar -Recording Software *** Travel Equipment *** I email all materials either in PDF of Mp3 format. I expect all students to be responsible for their lesson materials. *** Specialties *** I specialize in blues, jazz, Latin, musical theater, pop and rock n' roll. I have a huge background in classic rock and have been the leader singer in several rock and pop rock bands over the years. I also frequently perform solo acoustic blues and studied jazz at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Unfortunately I don't teach classical, metal, or hip hop. Any other genre I'm good to go! I am also an expert in music theory and am a working audio engineer. When I teach I like to explain the methodology behind a subject, so a student can understand it completely and not just have a general sense of it. Things click in a student's mind when they understand where something came from and why it is the way it is. Whether I'm teaching voice, guitar, piano, bass, songwriting, engineering, performing, or theory, this method of teaching has always worked very well for me.