Sara W. TakeLessons Instructor Voice, Beginner Piano, Music Production Grand Rapids, MI

I am a singer, keyboardist and music producer who has worked in the broadcasting and music industries for 10 years.  I am a certified teacher, and have both classical and modern training as a vocalist and pianist.  I studied Opera at DePaul University in Chicago, and hold a Master's Degree in Audio Production from the University of Westminster in London, England. I write and perfom my own music, and have a studio in my home. 

If you are passionate and dedicated, you can learn to sing! I have the ability to get my students to learn the techniques that form the basic foundation of musical theory. I do this through creative, and fun methods which help people to learn how to sing and play properly, and in their own style. I also have the ability to teach music production from my home studio, which is a Macintosh, Pro-Tools based system.

In London, I toured and sang lead vocals with Magneteek, an industrial/electronic group.  I also sang jazz with a trio in Chicago, and am a professional voice over artist, managed by "The I-Group", based in Southfield, Michigan.

I am a laid back and patient teacher. I use methods which are creative, and tailor made for each individual student. I will use the first lesson to evaluate the level of current ability the student has, and then prepare lesson plans. The lessons will lead towards specific goals, such as learning to play or sing songs which have increasing levels of difficulty and require skill building.  Emphasis is put on building confidence and ability through systematic, repetative practice and performance. I can teach you to sing any style of music, and to do it with confidence!  We will work on posture, proper breathing, visualization, phrasing and performance techniques.  You will see in a short time how utilizing my methods will get you the results you want!  I also use my home studio to record and play back portions of our lessons, which can be extremely useful. 

There will be opportunities for my students to record demos of their singing if they are looking for commercial or professional work in the future.

My methodology stems from my training, which was a combination of classical theory and pop music. I am a professional singer, and use a lot of imagery in my teaching. I can teach anyone to sing properly, and well. My piano teaching is limited to basic pedagogy, which goes to a "middle-school" level. I also teach music production from my home studio to those who are interested in learning how to record, edit and produce audio.

Okemos High School - High School - 1990-1994
DePaul University - Communications / Music - 1994-1999
University of Westminster, London - Audio Production - 1999-2001
University of London - Cultural Studies - 2002-2003

Voice, Beginner Piano, Music Production