What do you teach your students?
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Songs students love to play
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Effective practicing skills informed by neuroscience
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Music theory and the building blocks of music, like rhythm, chords, and scales
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Confidence and curiosity about music
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Reading sheet music and learning music by ear (equally important skills!)
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Creativity and artistic exploration
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Effortless technique
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Composition & songwriting
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…and wherever else their curiosity leads us!
What is your teaching philosophy?
After teaching thousands of lessons over the past 15 years, I’ve seen that every student possesses a unique musical potential just waiting to be uncovered. My approach to teaching prioritizes uncovering this potential through emphasizing curiosity, creativity, and joy in the learning process.
Conventional music lessons are often filled with unrecognizable songs, boring exercises, rigid expectations, and a relentless pursuit of perfection. Students are rarely taught how to practice effectively or how to overcome challenges; they are instead sent home with a to-do list with very little direction on how to actually do it. (I know because I spent much of my childhood in this exact type of lesson.) For many of us, these issues directly contribute to quitting lessons or having a negative experience with music.
My goal is to dismantle these barriers. I want my students to leave their lessons feeling confident and eager to play their instruments. I tailor lessons to each student's interests, allowing them to play music that truly excites them while still learning important foundational skills. We use our lesson time to practice the hard stuff, making practicing at home both manageable and enjoyable.
Music isn't merely technical skills or flashy repertoire to master — it’s a vibrant path for self-expression and creativity. I strive to instill this understanding in my students, whether they pursue music as a hobby or as a potential career. Ultimately, my mission is to inspire a lifelong love of music and to help my students discover the rich world it offers.
Do you offer performance opportunities for your students?
Yes! I hold recitals for my Southern California based students every 8-9 months. These are fun, super casual, and supportive events that even the most nervous of my students admit to having enjoyed after participating. I highly recommend participation. Recitals help students build confidence and give students the chance to be inspired by fellow students. They are fantastic for building motivation and excitement about music.
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Other performance opportunities I've helped my students participate in are talent shows, open-mics, house concerts for family and friends, gigs, performances at church or school functions, and so on. I even have students who record themselves to share their music online.
What is the right age to begin lessons?
Kids are typically ready for formal instrument lessons sometime between the age of 5-7, but younger children, especially those who show interest in music, are often ready for lessons that incorporate early childhood education methods and musical exploration. If you are uncertain of whether your child is ready for lessons, I recommend scheduling a lesson and we can make an individualized game plan accordingly.
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As for adults, it is never too late to start lessons. So far, the oldest beginner I've taught is 86, and now she's playing Chopin. If you have an inkling of an interest, it's probably a sign that music lessons are worth trying out.
How do I help my child practice?
One of my primary goals with my students is to help them build a positive association with learning music, which is essential for developing a genuine love and motivation for it. This intrinsic motivation helps students stay excited about learning, even when they face inevitable challenges and frustrations. It’s what keeps them engaged with music in the long run!
Building this positive association with music is one of the most important things a parent can do. Especially when kids first begin learning an instrument, it really isn’t about playing their scales every day or playing without mistakes -- this sort of mastery can come later.
Over the years, I have discovered that when parents enforce practicing too rigidly, students often lose their enthusiasm and motivation. Forcing practice or expecting perfection can create conflict, which undermines that important positive connection to music
Even with this shift in priorities, kids will still receive all the benefits we want for them from learning an instrument: patience, a creative outlet, perserverance, problem-solving and goal setting, discipline, improvements in cognition, and so on.
Parents can support building this positive association by making music fun and easy at home. Here are some ideas I’ve picked up from parents over the years:
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Sing along, jam out together, or have a dance party to their favorite songs
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Have them put on a concert for you and applaud loudly
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Make time for short bursts of practicing every day (even 5 minutes counts!)
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Take your kids to see live music or watch videos of musicians performing
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Frequently compliment their playing — even something as simple as “I love listening to you play” or “you’ve made so much progress on your song” is perfect
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Compliment their hard work and commitment after practice sessions and lessons
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Challenge them to learn a specific song
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Ask them to teach you one of their songs (and make mistakes - kids love correcting you)
That said, kids need help managing their time and building habits. They benefit from gentle reminders and cheerleading. Ensure they have a quiet, interruption-free space to practice in. Create a consistent practice routine, such as practicing between homework and dinner or before screen time. Keeping practice sessions short and sweet is the way to start.
I give students specific practicing tasks each week. Ideally, students work on these at home, but it’s still a win if they do anything at their instrument, whether that is playing an old favorite or even writing or learning a new song.
Feel free to reach out to me to develop a more individualized game plan on how to help your child build a practice habit.
Should I cancel my lesson if I didn't practice?
Definitely not! There’s an outdated stereotype of the cranky music teacher (with whom many of us adults probably took lessons from as a child) who would say that there is nothing to do in the lesson if the student didn’t practice. Not only is this wildly inaccurate, it’s just not the type of teacher I am.
There is so much for students to learn about music that is not dependent on whether they practiced. Much like practicing, consistent lessons lead to consistent progress.
Additionally, our lesson time is used for very efficient, guided practicing and to learn material that would otherwise be difficult for you to learn on your own. In other words, the work we do during our lessons not only helps you progress, it makes it easier to practice at home.
How much should I practice my instrument?
I wish the answer were simple, but it really depends.
It goes without saying that practicing is important. It helps us improve, which in turn helps us build motivation to continue learning. It gives us exactly results we want when we set out to learn an instrument.
I don’t have strict practice requirements for my students. Instead, I work with each student wherever they’re at and make the most of our lesson time to help them advance, no matter how much they practice outside of lessons. I help each student build intrinsic motivation to practice and I give them the necessary tools to practice effectively on their own.
The reality is that some of us have busy schedules that make regular practicing unfeasible. Additionally, music fits into each student’s life in a different way and there’s nothing wrong with that — everyone still deserves to have the joy of music in their life in some capacity.
Some of my students practice rarely, others 2-3 times a week for 10-15 minutes, and some practice daily for 60 minutes or more. Regardless of practice routine, all of my students make progress and enjoy learning songs they love, just at different paces.
With that in mind, here’s some more concrete advice:
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Consistent practice leads to consistent progress. Research on how the brain learns confirms that practicing for just 10 minutes a day is far more effective than cramming in an hour once a week.
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For beginners (8 years and older), a good starting point is 10-15 minute sessions, 4-5 times a week. More advanced students and adults typically benefit from longer sessions, but even these short, focused practice will still lead to significant progress. Most children under 8 only need 5-10 minute sessions.
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One of the crucial elements for playing your instrument well is building the habit of regular practice. Oftentimes, the hardest part of practicing is carving out the time and starting your practice. A good way to counter this is "habit stacking," or inserting your practice session next to an already existing habit or routine, e.g., "I'll practice for 10 minutes before eating dinner."
How often should I take lessons?
Students benefit most from weekly lessons. Weekly lessons serve to build motivation and keep the ball rolling, plus they provide consistent feedback and guidance that is crucial for the learning process.
I have limited biweekly slots available in my schedule for advanced adult students but I don’t offer these slots for children or beginners.
What materials do I need for lessons?
I provide students with most of the required materials (sheet music, worksheets, etc.), but students will still need the following:
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a three ring binder with sheet protectors
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a metronome
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a piano/keyboard or guitar at home
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Guitar students also need a guitar tuner & music stand
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Vocal students need access to a device & speaker to play practice tracks from. It is helpful to have a keyboard or piano, but it is not required