German poet Heinrich Heine once said, “Where words leave off, music begins.” I like to think of music as a language that expresses what words can not - more abstract things like colors, pictures and emotions. My goal as a teacher is to help any student, no matter the age, to develop this form of communication and understand how to listen and speak, musically. Since making music is a form of such personal expression, I gear my teaching towards the individual. I have experienced those teachers who treat every student the same, regardless of their degree of experience or talent, age level, cultural background, or even career goals. I feel that this approach is somewhat demeaning to higher level students, and very frustrating or overwhelming for lower level students. Every person has their own strengths and weaknesses. It is my job as a teacher to help the student nurture the strengths while working on the weaker areas.

*Tone

One thing that I will have every student practice is their fundamentals of tone, vibrato and technique (scales and etudes). No matter the level, it is so important that these areas are focused on every day during practice. Once a consistent tone and solid technique are developed, the student can transfer these basic principals into any piece of music that they are working on. As a student becomes more advanced, it is still possible to further develop and shape all of the fundamentals to the next level of perfection. This kind of focus and attention to detail helps keep the mind engaged with the same exercise, like long tones and scales, 10 years down the road!

*Tension

Another area that is extremely important to me is understanding the body. Due to a battle with tendonitis a few years back, I am a big fan of stretches and breaks during practice. More importantly, it is my goal to teach students how to understand how the body works, how it is connected to the way we play flute, and how to do this efficiently and without tension! Every body is different, but no matter what we should avoid tension (aka bad habits!) in order to avoid pain and ultimately something worse like tendonitis or carpul-tunnel. Understanding how the body works is also essential to understanding the fundamentals of breath control and support.

All in all, I view my role as a teacher of that to inspire students to want to learn and play music. Although I’m concerned with teaching students great practice habits, that is for students to do on their own at home - I am not a babysitter to help them practice during lessons. I also can not practice for my students! I am here to be a mentor, musically as well as mentally, share what I’ve learned and am still currently learning through my own experiences, and pass on my joy found through music.

All ages and skill levels are welcome! If interested, please contact me to receive my studio policy and any other information.