My Teaching Philosophy
Every musician has different strengths and weaknesses, and my job as a teacher and guide is not simply to hand out information, but to guide you to make the most of yourself and your talents. We start by assessing your musical goals and what you want to achieve, and then formulate a plan of action from there. Achieving your potential is learning how to maximize your strengths while minimizing your weaknesses; this is a key factor that separates the "masters" from others. We'll take a comprehensive look at your practice and performance routine and discuss skills and approaches you can use in any discipline before we move into in depth topics. Topics vary widely depending on the student and are not limited to: instrument technique, time/groove/feel, bassline construction, melodic phrasing and soloing, theory/harmony, memorization and repertoire, sight reading and rhythmic skills, counterpoint/composition, styles and history, and ear training. And though I am known primarily as a "jazz performer", I also integrate world music (Balkan, klezmer, etc), classical performance, and compositional analysis (counterpoint, Schenkerian analysis, etc) into our lessons, when suitable. I offer private lessons from my home studio near New York City as well as by Skype.
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Transcriptions
a note on transcriptions: a transcription is not a sufficient substitute for listening to the recording; as phrasing and timing varies widely from player to player, sometimes I approximate complex rhythmic phrasing. And no transcription is truly complete without the accompaniment, as any good soloist relies on harmonic and rhythmic interaction with the rest of the band. I always view a written transcription as a supplement to deep listening, not a guide on "how to solo"; personally, I use transcriptions for theoretical study and as an eartraining exercise/tool. By examining an artist's musical language, we can gain greater insight into how to develop our own.
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