Piano with Ricardo P.

I have been a professional musician and teacher all my adult life. Music is my passion and has always been how I make a living. I teach piano/keyboards, guitar, voice, bass and ukulele. I studied classical piano at SUNY at Buffalo and I initially learned to play guitar and singing on my own. Years later I studied voice and guitar with great professional instructors. I am familiar with different ways of learning music: from very structured and traditional methods (that we use in classical music) to more improvisational and "by ear" approaches as we often do in popular music. This helps me tailor my music teaching specifically to each student based on his/her musical preferences, abilities and learning style. I can teach all styles of music including: Pop, Rock, Blues, Country, Bluegrass, Jazz, many different Latin styles including Salsa, Bolero and Bossa Nova. I have performed all over the US and toured many countries including Mexico, Canada, Argentina, Uruguay, England and France. I have recorded more than 100 CDs for many artists (as well as my own original music) as a pianist/keyboardist, singer, guitarist and music producer. I have won many awards including most recently the Best Blues Band award as the pianist, guitarist and singer for the Lionel Young Band at the International Blues Challenge (the largest competition of blues bands in the world). I have taught music through my whole career. Many of my students have gone on to study music as a career and have become successful professional musicians. I am very comfortable teaching all levels from professional musicians to very beginners at any age. I currently lead and perform with my group. We perform concerts, private events and some club work. My life as a professional musician has given me a lot of knowledge to share with my students. *** Lesson Details *** I adjust my approach based on what you want to learn, always with an emphasis on learning as much as possible while making the lessons fun and enjoyable. If you are a beginning piano/keyboard or guitar student I can teach you the basics of how to read music and how to play chords in the first few months and then we can decide whether you are interested in playing written music or more improvisational styles. I use different method books depending on the student and sometimes I use just my teaching materials if you are only interested in improvisational styles like Rock or Blues guitar or piano (for example). If you are a voice student, I teach with a combination of learning songs you like and using a CD/MP3s of vocal exercises that help develop good vocal technique. Whatever your instrument and musical preference you can be sure we'll have fun and you'll be making music from the very start! *** Studio Equipment *** I have a Yamaha upright piano, a Hammond M3 organ with a Leslie 147 speaker and keyboards. I have acoustic and electric guitars, bass and amps. I have Shure Sm-58 mics to teach microphone technique with. *** Travel Equipment *** Student must have his/her own instrument and metronome (or equivalent) must purchase course book(s) if needed.. *** Specialties *** I teach different styles depending on the students goals. I can teach a traditional classical style for those interested in classical music and I can teach more practical approaches for popular music such as learning by chords (for instrumental students- not voice obviously) and learning improvisation through scales, arpeggios and music theory.