Hi Parents,

I wanted to introduce myself to those who are new to the M.U.S.E. Instrumental Program. I am the director and founder of the M.U.S.E. Instrumental Programs. Besides being an educator for the past 38 years, I am a professional musician performing regularly in the Portland area and the leader of several groups including my very popular Latin Jazz group “Picante”. As a performing artist, I feel I bring an added dimension to the classroom by using my performance experience and applying it to the process of teaching young musicians how to play their instrument and make it fun. I feel it is important to expose the students to many different styles of music which include jazz, folk, latin, classical, and rock. My classroom style is to keep things moving but never too fast so that I leave anyone behind.  I use my experience in the classroom to help support my staff by sharing ideas and guiding them along the way. I also enjoy running workshops for all my M.U.S.E. schools to share what I think are important elements in learning an instrument and playing as an ensemble.

Our classes and workshops are more than just about music. The students are learning discipline, teamwork, cultivating creativity, developing motor skills, and stimulating the brain. New research has shown that learning an instrument stimulates BOTH sides of the brain at the same time, not just one. I also find that my classes are an opportunity to also teach students about “Time Management”. When I was a kid taking music lesson, we were expected to practice 30 minutes a day, 5-7 days a week.  This is just not practical these days with students having quite a busy extra-curricular after school schedule. In my classes, I like to show students how to manage their time by learning to recognize and isolate problem spots and fixing them. Basically, my job is to teach students “how to practice” and to be their own teacher at home. It is a way of empowering them. A 10 minute practice session focusing on the “trouble spots” is more efficient than 20-30 minutes of random playing and avoiding the harder stuff. This is “Time Management” and learning this early on will help them throughout their academic life. When students learn this discipline, they become more successful with their music and start to enjoy it more and more. A common question, especially from beginning students, is “what do I practice”.  It is our job as teachers to teach the students in class how and what to practice. I remember when my daughter would practice her flute and I could hear her upstairs and I would recognize the song she was playing. It sounded good but every time she got to this one spot in the music, it didnt sound quite right. She would continue  through that section and then play the song again, and again, she would make the same mistake. She never stopped to really fix what needed fixing. This is very typical and what I try to do is help students recognize these spots in the music and learn to fix it.

I think everyone should learn an instrument at some point in their life and the earlier the better. I hope you will consider having your child take up an instrument and playing in the band. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.