Michael D. TakeLessons Instructor music, piano, saxophone, clarinet, flute, composition, theory, improvisation Alameda, CA

My musical experience extends across many musical styles & genres, including Classical, Jazz, Free Improvisation, Rock, Musical Theater, and Balinese Gamelan.  My passions are composition/arranging, improvisation, and performance on several instruments. I believe music is a powerful expressive language, and I enjoy helping people learn the tools they need to express what they want.

I hold a Bachelor's degree in music performance and composition from CSU, Sacramento.  Recently I also earned an MA degree in music composition from the world-renowned Mills College music department, where I studied with such luminaries as Roscoe Mitchell, Fred Frith, Alvin Curran, Joelle Leandre, and Chris Brown.

Currently I perform with several Bay Area Improvisation/Free Jazz-based groups, and with the Sacramento-based new music group Orchestra 21. I'm also working on starting a rock band this summer.

My approach is personalized to you, so I will select materials specifically for you.  There are certain things that will be valuable no matter what: learning to recognize and use scales and chords, and so on.  But other than that, the materials are up to you. If you want to write your own original songs, we can do that.  If you want to play Bjork and Stevie Wonder, we can do that.  If you want to learn Mozart and Beethoven and a little bit of Dave Brubeck, we can do that.  It's up to you.

My teaching style is patient and supportive, but I also know how fast to push you!  Think of me as a musical 'big brother' who knows how to get you from point A to point B (and if you continue to work . . . point C, D, E, and on and on).

I also specialize in starting children out on the piano.  I utilize methods such as Piano Adventures and Suzuki, but also incorporate songs that they want to learn as we go, and as their abilities increase.  I also compose and improvise short songs for (or with) the students.  Basically I try to make sure that–just as in learning a foreign language–the following four skills are exercised: reading, writing, listening, and speaking.  In musical terms: reading musical notation, facility with writing musical notation, acute and subtle listening discernment, and–most importantly–expression through the instrument itself.

After your (or your child's) first few months of study, you will have familiarity with all the basic elements of music and examples of how they can be used, and you will be able to perform a few songs in basic arrangements.  The more you continue to study after this, the greater the possibilities will be for the expansion of your repertoire and for the expressive subtleties you can achieve.

One note about scheduling: I only teach weekly, or minimum of three times a month.

I teach classical, jazz, and rock/pop styles. My method emphasizes the basic skills (analogous to learning a foreign language): read, write, listen, speak. I select materials individually for each student based on this approach, and on the student's areas of interest.

music, piano, saxophone, clarinet, flute, composition, theory, improvisation