Buttwinick Musical Services

The elements of music are very specific, whereas an individual’s goals can vary widely. My quest as a teacher is to teach the student sitting before me by discovering exactly what it is he or she wants to accomplish and then create a program for them to follow. What we do is determined by the following: 1) their personal goals, 2) what I know they need to do in order to reach those goals and 3) discovering the level they need to start at, then giving them clear instructions leading to their goals.

Some students have taken a lesson or two to straighten out something they wanted help with whereas most students have studied with me for years in order to reach a certain level of proficiency. It all depends on what a person wants to achieve.

The elements of music are the same regardless of the style. Rock, classical, jazz, funk and any style you can think of, all use the same notes; they are just played differently. Because of this, all students will most likely have a certain amount of “basics” on their lessons, and if really wanting to advance, should stabilize this area. Combine these factors with a person’s experience level, or lack there of, and each tailored program smoothly guides a person to their goals. Whereas musical elements are finite—creative applications are unlimited.

Playing and writing music to your personal standard is truly wonderful. It is also quite doable when someone has the right materials to apply and invests some time into doing so.

I mainly work with older teens and adults, but most any age could work. I’m exceptionally good at rehabilitating the adult who use to play, who always wanted to but never did, is already playing and wants to take it to the next level, just wants to start for whatever reason, or has some experience with music but has loose ends that need to be put together.