Online Video Lessons for Beginner Trumpet & Saxophone Players of All Ages
Do you want to learn how to play your favorite songs, the way you know and sing them, by ear?
Do you want to thoroughly learn songs, so that you can eventually improvise with them?
Is reading music notation holding you back from playing what you want because it is too challenging or frustrating?
Many of the most successful musicians have the ability to be able to hear music in their head and quickly reproduce it on their instrument. Yet many of us have been trained by working out of method books that focus on manipulating new physical skills on an instrument and reading music notation at the same time.
Some people find this frustrating and eventually quit playing their instrument. Others follow the method books, are able to read music, play in concert bands and jazz bands but once they graduate from school, don’t know what to play anymore because they don’t have a teacher telling them how the song or piece goes.
Many people, including children, just want to play their favorite songs without having to rely on music notation.
With this method, you can learn the process to play the songs you enjoy and read the notation much more quickly and easily.
Is your music program being cut or drastically reduced due to all the emphasis on testing?
Many public schools are cutting music programs, in particular band and orchestra programs, in order to fulfill Common Core testing requirements.
Music education is one of the seven intelligences and is vital to our communities!
Experiencing the joy of playing an instrument inspires creativity and an appreciation for culture.
Having access to online video lessons can either enhance or replace what is lacking in schools today.
The nearest private teacher is over 100 miles away!
With online video lessons, you get access to an experienced teacher 24/7 without having to drive a mile!
Not able to travel to a teacher because you have other young children to take care of?
With online video lessons your child can learn in the convenience of your own home. And no more hassles for you trying to find a babysitter.
Are you/your child so busy that you are finding it challenging to fit in a private teacher?
With online video lessons, you can access the videos anytime of the day or night.
Maybe you have the time for a private teacher, but no space for a teacher to come to you (or you have pets that may interfere with your lessons).
All you need is a computer, internet access and enough space to play along with the video.
Is your child showing a great interest in music, and wants enrichment outside of school?
The material I cover helps to train you to be a complete musician:
- You will learn to sing and play many folk songs in various meters and tonalities
- You will learn plenty of musical vocabulary to eventually be able to read and perform music with understanding
- You will be creating and improvising your own patterns and phrases, based upon all the musical vocabulary you will have learned
Makes Lessons Fun
Donna is a strong music teacher who always takes the whole child into consideration! She believes that ALL children should have music in their lives, despite any special physical or educational needs. She makes lessons fun and always reinforces the importance of practicing!
Why Online Video Lessons and Not a Private Teacher in Person?
The great thing about online video lessons is that you can refer to the material whenever you want, and you can pause and repeat the sections that you feel you need to work on. You have access to the lesson 24/7!
Why Am I Offering This?
I have been teaching privately and in public schools for a long time, and have noticed that “some kids get it and some kids don’t” when it comes to reading notation and learning to play an instrument at the same time. It always upset me when children quit because “it was too hard.”
Here’s an idea of the lesson content for the first 8 lessons. New lessons are added every week that build upon the musical vocabulary and songs previously learned.
Made a Difference
There are a few teachers in your life, or your child’s life that you can honestly say made a difference. Donna Schwartz is one such teacher. She was my child’s music teacher for 6 years in elementary school. With her extra attention to detail as both a musician and teacher, she helped develop my sons skills in drumming that by 5th grade – he had won the only drum seat in the All Nassau County Jazz Band that Berry Hill Elementary has had the honor of holding. She is an exceptional person and teacher. Anyone associated with her would be lucky to have her on their side.
And to show you that I know how to teach, watch my Sample Lesson below to get an idea of how the lessons will work…
My Story…
When I was growing up, I did not have access to this way of learning music. We were taught to read and play at the same time. I had no difficulty doing this, but I always felt my ear was not as developed as I would have liked. I accomplished many great things in junior high and high school. In college, I had a trumpet teacher who made me sing everything before I played it. That was a rude awakening! But, it was exactly what I needed. My “hearing” improved immensely.
While teaching in public schools, I did a lot of research and stumbled upon the teachings of Edwin Gordon, a jazz musician, music education researcher, music aptitude test creator and professor at many fine colleges across the country. (Dr. Gordon’s ideas and concepts on how we learn music are well researched and documented. For many years, he observed and conducted research on the ways children learn music, from the ages of infancy up to adolescence. He created the concept of audiation, which is hearing and comprehending music in one’s mind that is not physically present. From this arose Music Learning Theory, Dr. Gordon’s well-researched ideas about how we learn music.)
I took a summer course at Hartt Conservatory of Music on Creativity in Improvisation. I was forever changed! Christopher Azzarra, who was certified in teaching the concepts of Music Learning Theory, exposed me to audiation and how it greatly influenced the musicianship of young musicians, as well as all the course participants.
The method book, Jump Right In; the Instrumental Series was created by Christopher Azzarra and Richard Grunow to reflect Dr. Gordon’s concepts from Music Learning Theory. The idea behind it directly relates to how we learn to speak, read and write language. As infants, we listen as parents speak to us, we “babble” as we start to learn to form words, we speak words, then short phrases, then short sentences, and finally more complete sentences. After we are forming and creating our own thoughts and speaking sentences, we start to read simple books, which then get progressively harder. After some time, we start to learn to write our words and sentences.
If we want to truly develop good musicianship, we need to follow the same logical process. We need to be exposed to all different genres and styles of music from a very early age. The next step is to sing many simple melodies and bass lines, and echo tonal and rhythm patterns, which are our musical vocabulary. During this time, if we are learning an instrument, we are working on the physical skills of performing on that instrument. After a few notes have been learned and performed with good, characteristic tone quality, we learn to play phrases from the songs we have learned to sing by ear. Phrases are then combined into the complete song, by ear. Once we have performed a variety of songs by ear, in different tonalities (major, minor) and keyalities (C-Do, F-Do, D-La), and after performing tonal patterns, we are ready to learn to read what we already know how to play. Reading becomes enjoyable and is a faster process because we have familiarity with the material.
Ever since I started to use concepts from Music Learning Theory, I have had very few children quit band. Many children are able to play their first song within a few weeks! After that, they can’t get enough and want to play more songs.
How Do I Access The Online Video Lessons?
Become a Member – Just $9.99/month!
Sorry Membership is Currently Closed ☹️
Monthly Membership includes access to all the online videos whenever you want, access to other resources like scale sheets, lip slur and interval exercises and other special exercise sheets and songs, and special direct email access to me with any questions you may have!
Enjoyable to Learn From
Ms. Schwartz gave me my foundation in music and for that I will always be grateful. She worked to improve my tone, technique, and articulation when I first learned to play the alto saxophone at age 10, and went above and beyond in helping me practice outside of class and realize my potential as a musician. I have never had a music teacher as dedicated or as enjoyable to learn from and highly recommend her for private lessons.
Here’s What You Get When You Become a Member:
- 24/7 Access to the entire Online Video Lessons Library. New videos are added weekly.
- Each video is around 30 minutes; some are even 40 minutes!
(Private teachers charge $30 or more/half hour)
($120 per month value) - FREE BONUS: Email access to me with any questions you may have.
($99 value) - FREE BONUS: Access to my teaching resources and special exercises sheets.
($29 value) - FREE BONUS: Video lessons of Fun Songs, not covered in Lessons Series! New videos added every month.
($39 per month value)
All this would be worth $287 every month, but you will pay just $9.99 per month!
Sorry! Membership is currently closed ☹️
Donna is one of those rare teachers that operates professionally and also sees “eye to eye” with her students. Students feel comfortable and engaged throughout the lesson and leave each session with a feeling of accomplishment. Learning an instrument when you’re young is never easy – Donna broke it all down into manageable pieces and then led by example, playing things slowly and allowing the process to really sink in. Being a polished player herself made it easy for me to pick up on proper technique/tone and then develop my own style. She is dynamic, knowledgeable, and above all, patient – a fine musician in her own right and a dedicated instructor overall. Tom CordellOne of Those Rare Teachers
