Jeff has been instructing music for many years both in private studio settings as well as college level classes and lectures/demonstrations.

Instruction is offered in:

• Saxophone
• Flute
• Clarinet
• Piano,
• Jazz Improvisation
• Jazz Theory
• Arranging for both small ensembles as well as larger ones

I've often been asked a few questions about beginning music lessons. Here are a few of my recommendations:

At what age should my child start to take formal music lessons?

It's different for everybody, but my recommendation is around 7-8 years. It is difficult to keep a younger child's attention span for more than a few minutes and in fact, some of the physical requirements may not quite be up to par. For example, the size of a child's fingers can be to small to travel around the keys of a piano keyboard or the holes on a clarinet or flute may be too far apart for the child to manipulate easily.

What instrument should my child start with?

Again, it's different for everybody. Some children show an attraction to one particular instrument right from the start while others are not really so sure and it may take a little experimenting to find the right instrument. I would suggest that you start them on piano/electronic keyboard as this gives them a good solid foundation in understanding chords and melody. It's right there in front of them on the keyboard-all the sharps, flats and notes that make up a melody.

What length of time should the lesson be?

In the beginning,  I usually confine it to just 1/2 hour. It has been my experience thatif the lesson time is longer than that they may show a tendency to get bored or restless. After your young musician has developed some real interest and discipline, then I would suggest 45mins-1 hour.

What amount of time should be put into practice?

I always suggest at least one hour daily. This need not be a preset time (from 7:00-8:00 A.M. for example). As long as during the day your child puts in an hour of good effort, you will see improvement. Some of my students will practice scales for 15 minutes then go do something else and come back latter and work on an etude or piece of music for 20 minutes. Later on they may work on a technical passage that has been giving them some trouble. The point here is that they work on the music for at least one hour daily.