Teaching Philosophy
In welcoming each of you into my teaching studio I want to introduce myself by briefly describing some of the unique qualities in my teaching style. Since you also possess your own personal learning styles, I strive to accommodate each individual by tailoring the private instruction to meet each student’s needs. However, in order to successfully achieve this, I require a great deal of autonomous learning from each flutist. This means that I want you to take responsibility for your own musical development on many levels.
Your own heightened self-awareness and clear communication about what you need from me ensures the best possible learning relationship. Although I intend to advise students on repertoire and etude selections, I strongly encourage you to continually do research so that you may independently choose material to study. I also create an environment in the lesson structure which enables you to learn how to teach yourselves. In doing this, you will develop analytical, interpretive, and creative skills which may transfer into many professional domains.
I may ask as many questions as I answer in the hopes of guiding you towards your own solutions. I also expect each student’s desire to work towards realizing their full potential to come from within. I welcome any requests for external motivation where needed, and I encourage you to ask for direction when not enough is being given.
My wholistic approach to teaching flute will enable students with a broad range of career and personal goals to thrive. I hope that, regardless of your specific professional aspirations, each of you is striving for excellence. In doing so, you will cultivate a work ethic, time management and concentration skills. I incorporate traditions from many of the world’s finest flute teachers in helping you develop as a complete musician. However, I derive my approach from many modalities outside of the classical domain as well.
I am a certified yoga instructor and make body awareness issues primary in my flute instructing. I also incorporate ideas from the Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais, and various meditation techniques to help you build a mindful and relaxed style of making music. The idioms of jazz and world music also influence my playing and teaching, and I encourage all of you to explore other musical genres.
In conclusion, my first priority is to make learning fun and exciting for you. I hope to awaken or keep alive the passion for making music which led you to my studio in the first place. If we together approach this experience with non judgmental curiosity the possibilities are infinite and I look forward to where they will take us.