Jeffery B.

Voice lessons are tailored to the goals of my students as vocalists. Particular emphasis is placed on pitch and rhythmic accuracy as part of the first steps to proficient singing. In addition to these, I ensure my students produce sound in the healthiest ways possible to encourage longevity in their instrument's use. This is achieved with sound pedagogical principles involving breath, intonation, resonant space, mouth shape, and the mechanics of anatomy during singing. Lessons involve warm-ups, repertoire study, semi-occluded exercises, and sight singing exercises and drills.

When I begin teaching a new student, my first priority is to learn what my student's goals for playing piano are. The way that I teach a student who hopes to play at Carnegie Hall will be different from how I teach a student who wants to develop his or her skill to join a church's worship team. Once I have an idea of a student's goal, I begin teaching them how to play the instrument with sustainable technique to create musical sounds. As this is mastered with practice, I begin to teach students how to read different systems of notation in music including chord charts and standard notation. This is supplemented with repertoire that builds various skills of technique, and I devote some portion of each lesson to sight reading exercises.