How I got started...
I have been teaching private Voice and Piano lessons for almost a decade. I started back in 2002 when a student from the Children's Choir I was directing asked if I would teach her one-to-one. I was not new to voice lessons as I'd been taking lessons myself for years, but I was new to the concept of giving private lessons. I accepted my first student and that first year took off! I found myself with 6 new students that first year, 10 the second year, and 19 in the third year! My fouth year I disappeared off to Graduate School and stopped teaching while I was there, but when I returned to Vermont, my studio quickly reset itself.
**Please contact me for current hourly rates. I will not teach any lesson less than 45 minutes, and I have a 36 hour cancellation requirement.
Private Vocal Lessons
My focus in teaching has always been understanding the voice on many levels, including physically, psychologically and structurally. To give you all the details about my teaching habits would be difficult. However, I can tell you that I require all of my students to be able to read music. For my younger voice students that usually means 4 months to a year of music theory lessons and some basic piano lessons. For my older students, music is usually much easier to learn and they pick it up faster. The faster you learn to read music, the faster we get into the 'meat' of vocal instruction.
In the actual voice lesson I always start off with warm-ups, because your voice is a muscle and I won't have you "running a marathon" without a "jog around the park" first. I have a very wide array of warm-ups that I cater to the student. Not every voice 'enjoys' the same warm-ups and not every person has the same singing difficulties as everyone else, so we'll work techniques appropriate to you.
Music selection is very free and dependent on the interests of the student. Of course I prefer classical music (opera and art song), but I have an astounding collection of broadway, jazz, celtic and rock music to choose from. And I always allow my students to bring in their own selections! It doesn't mean I haven't ever said 'no' to a requested piece, but that doesn't happen often.
Private Piano Lessons
If you're looking for a teacher to take you to the major concert halls of the world via your piano skills, I am not the teacher for you. Yes, I play piano very well, but think of my piano teaching abilities more as a vehicle to educate you on music theory than making you a piano star. However, I have a wonderful network of pianists all over Vermont who would love to take you on! If you are interested in voice lessons with some daubling in piano, just to get the feel of it - that's what I am good at. I prefer to work with the Bastian Piano Series for my young students, and there is a wonderful Adult Learning Series that I use for older students. Let me know what you're interested in, and I can purchase whichever series you like at a discounted price at my local music store.