Music Instruction

I offer private guitar, piano & bass guitar lessons @ $120.00 per month (4 weeks). They are ½ hour lessons occurring once a week. Hour lessons are optional for advanced students at $220.00 per month. I play all styles of contemporary and classic jazz, rock, blues, folk, and pop. I focus on performance, repertoire, theory, and improvisation, as well as fundamental through advanced technique on the instrument. All levels are welcome (including beginners). I have 29 years of full time teaching experience and have instructed over 1,500 successful students at The Musicians Warehouse locations in Evergreen and Almaden, Tony’s Music in Evergreen, and Steven’s Music in Cupertino since 1980. I am currently teaching from my home in Almaden (south San Jose). It’s a quiet and peaceful environment and there are never any distractions that the student may find from taking lessons in a noisy retail music store.

I have a Masters Degree in Music from San Jose State University and have studied privately with Gregory Yasinitsky (currently Professor of Music and Coordinator of Jazz Studies at Washington State University), Dave Costa (a prodigy of the legendary jazz guitarist Warren Nunes), Dwight Cannon (former Professor and head of Jazz Studies at San Jose State University), Hafez Modirzadeh (currently a Professor of Music at San Francisco State University), Joe Davis (former Professor and head of Jazz Studies at West Valley College), Tom Hart (former Professor and head of Jazz Studies at De Anza College) and jazz piano virtuoso Don Haas.

Email to schedule a consultation - spf@spfmusic.com

Below are just some of the jazz standards and original compositions used in my curriculum.  Click to play, right-click to save.

Michelle

Ana Maria

My Romance/Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most

Sky Dive

A Remark You Made

Inner Space

An April State of Mind

Here’s That Rainy Day

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