Private Lessons
"Mr. Gurske, you are the best. If I could have you or Jimi Hendrix as a guitar teacher, I would choose you!" -Gus Benson, age 10
Learning an instrument requires practice, discipline and effort, but the end goal is to enjoy creating music and to be a more fully developed human being. Music.4.life promises customized instruction, which means accommodating individual needs, taking into account personality, learning strengths and interests. We get to know our students and their families well beyond their musical progress! We provide balance of music fundamentals with an open exploration of ideas.
Areas of Instruction:
- Piano or adaptive piano (easing in for children who would benefit from additional music readiness work
- Guitar and Bass
- Percussion and Beginning Band instruments
- Rhythm Section Lessons (explore drums, guitar, bass AND/or keyboard in the same lesson.)
- We are now offer music therapy as well!
Learn more about our instructors.
Ongoing lessons mean ongoing success! That’s why summer music lessons are part of enrollment. For students taking private music lessons, your enrollment in music lessons will be custom billed according to your summer travel schedule Read more!
Studio vs. in-home instruction
We believe lessons are most effective when offered in a professional studio environment. Even though in-home lessons seem attractive at first, our experience has been that the home is often full of distractions and interruptions, so the student is often not able to set his or her frame of mind appropriately for focused learning. Furthermore, most households are often not equipped with the proper chairs, music stands and other tools necessary to achieve comprehensive learning.
Our studio uses WiFi for instant access to online sheet music, listening examples on YouTube, and other computer and internet based resources. In addition, each teacher has a large collection of instructional materials available to reference at any point in the lesson. Also, with a full band set up, sometimes students can have lessons that include multiple instruments.
Finally, a studio environment can become a small community. This is one of our core beliefs, that music education can create invaluable community connections by it’s very nature!
When should my child begin private instrument lessons ?
It varies by instrument, and also where the child is at developmentally. In general, for any instrument, we prefer the child be reading. Music is a language and as such requires the ability to read and write it.
- Piano – may be able to start as young as 6, but starting at 7 or older generally insures a better success rate.
- Guitar – best to wait until age 8 or older. Playing guitar requires more precise fine motor skill development than piano.
- Violin – traditionally, public and private schools offer beginning string instrument instruction (orchestra) in 4th or 5th grade or age 9 or 10. The Suzuki approach, learning by rote with active parent participation, allows children to start as earlier as age 4.
- Winds – as with string instruments, wind instruments (band) are often taught in 4th or 5th grade or age 9 or 10.
- Percussion – as with string instruments and wind instruments percussion (including drum kit ) is often taught in 4th or 5th grade or age 9 or 10.
- Music Therapy – Read about our program!
For more information, read Betsy Gurske’s “Music Readiness” article for Charlotte Parent magazine.
Registration
To register, or to find out more information about private lessons, please email or call John Gurske at 704-615-9195.