Jonathan - Bassoon tutor - Silver Spring

1^st lesson free

Jonathan

Price $70
Answer 1h
Students
Number of students Jonathan has accompanied since arriving at Superprof
7
Number of students Jonathan has accompanied since arriving at Superprof

$70/h

1^st lesson free

Bassoon

Experienced tutor in Bassoon in Silver Spring, Jonathan offers private lessons tailored to your needs.

Bassoon

Lesson location

- online

About Jonathan

I'm a bassoonist with more than 15 years of playing experience and more than a decade of private teaching experience. I hold a Bachelors from the University of Maryland at College park, a Masters from the University of Texas at Austin, and an Artist's Certificate from the University of Missouri: Kansas City Conservatory, all in bassoon performance, and have attended and performed in dozens of music festivals and masterclasses. In addition to teaching, I am an active Maryland, D.C., Virginia, and Pennsylvania area freelancer and the bassoonist of the Potomac Winds and a frequent performer with the Ars Nova Chamber Orchestra. I've performed in concert halls in seven countries and dozens of states across North America and Europe.

My teaching emphasizes developing and strengthening fundamental playing and musicianship skills, overcoming obstacles specific to the student or music, and building knowledge and experience while working towards your goals. Lesson assignments, materials, and content revolves around improving existing skills, honing problem solving abilities, and developing new perspectives and methods that widen your musical palate and improve your sense of musical style.

I taught my first student during my undergraduate studies as both supplemental income as well as supplemental learning aside from my normal studies. I soon found that it was enjoyable and that I could really see my student's playing transform with time - I've been teaching at least a little ever since.

In addition to over a decade of teaching experience teaching sixth grade beginners through adult amateur players and everything in between, I've put together and presented educational performances to school groups, lead mini-masterclasses, coached chamber ensembles, and run studio classes - all of which have given me additional perspective and techniques to use in one-on-one teaching. I've also studied music pedagogy techniques as well as done careful analysis of individual lessons to maximize time efficiency, clarity of ideas, and student retention.

On the performance side, I've played in nearly every style of music considered "classical" as well as popular styles and jazz, from full sized orchestras to small, self-conducted chamber groups, and soliloquoy-like long solos to strictly accompanimental lines and everything in between. I'm comfortable with most extended techniques on the instrument and almost every style I come across and can both tell you and show you what makes them work. My performance experience, the teachers I have learned from, and the methodology behind my many, varied, successful performances lets me address important facets of playing succinctly and comprehensively.

About the lesson

The first lesson is a chance to find out what a student can do and what they want to work on. I'd ask for a prepared work of some sort (solo, band part, etude, almost anything) to get a sense of their level of playing and approach. I also do a thorough check of the instrument to make sure it is in good repair, and can work on or supply reeds to make sure they can perform at the level they need to. We'll try to map out preliminary goals, find some material to dig deeper into, and work though any problems that arise when playing the prepared piece or look into other questions or concerns the student has. I also like to keep an eye out for good instrument and reed storage habits, comfortable posture, and other less-obvious issues that can lead to problems if left unchecked.

The youngest bassoonists are typically starting middle school, since the instrument is physically large and small sized bassoons are fairly uncommon in the US, so I've taught beginning sixth graders through high school students. Some college aged amateur players and music majors, and then some adults interested in starting playing as well as continuing from years past. I've taught almost every age group that plays bassoon and at nearly every level - from a first lesson where I show them how to assemble the instrument, to helping out professional colleagues in rehearsals, in mock auditions, or in other coaching capacities.

Find someone who both knows the instrument very well and knows music very well, then talk to them or take a trial lesson. The bassoon is a quirky instrument and there is a lot of benefit to a teacher who knows its intricacies, alternate fingerings, and potential pitfalls - they'll be able to get you through some of those difficult bits with much more ease than someone who doesn't regularly play or hasn't studied the instrument for as long. Aside from the basic knowledge and ability requirement, see if you like their approach and teaching style. I can be difficult to appreciate everything that a great teacher may do in just a single lesson, but you should come away from a trial lesson with a small list of specific things to work on, a clearer perspective on the problems you've been having (or, at times, a newfound perspective on thos eproblems), and a number of ways that you can address the problem in your own practice.

Lessons are for showing you more options and perspectives, teaching you how to weigh them and when to aplly them, and for pointing your attention to areas that need work. You should feel that your lesson sets up your practice time to be effective enough for you to make a noticeable improvement by the time the next one comes around, even if that's in a very specific area.

Rates

Price

Pack prices

5h: $350
10h: $700

free lessons

The first lesson with Jonathan will allow you to get to know each other and discuss your needs for future lessons.

online

$70/h

Details

I charge $50 for hour long lessons and generally recommend a weekly schedule. I can also sell handmade reeds to my students at the cost of $15 each. Within a reasonable range, I can travel to teach, but there would be an additional charge. If possible, I recommend coming to me for lessons, I have access to a lot of music and equipment that can be useful that I simply can't bring with me when I travel without knowing in advance, so it makes addressing problems quickly easier.

Half hour lessons can be arranged for less, but aside from young students with fairly short attention spans, they are often a little to short to get through everything I like to cover in a normal week. Less frequent lessons are fine for some with less time to practice or more self-motivation, but whether that schedule is every other week or even every month, I do encourage regularity in lesson frequency - it makes it easier to make appropriately sized assignments and makes it easier for students to pace out their own practice schedules.

Experienced tutor in Bassoon in Silver Spring, Jonathan offers private lessons tailored to your needs.

Lesson location

About Jonathan

About the lesson

Rates

Price

Pack prices

free lessons

online

Details

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Experienced tutor in Bassoon in Silver Spring, Jonathan offers private lessons tailored to your needs.

Lesson location

About Jonathan

About the lesson

Rates

Price

Pack prices

free lessons

online

Details

Similar Bassoon tutors in Silver Spring

Charlie

Chantel

Polly

Leila

Bessie

Summer

Harper

Madison

Lee

Amy

Krïstoff

Dr Yu-Cheng

Marina

Álvaro

Antoine

Enrico

Maria

Julian

Vinay

Ked

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