Music Lessons in Burbank CA | Los Angeles Music Teachers

When Is The Best Time To Start Violin Lessons For Your Kids
As parents, we work and strive to provide our children with many opportunities possible to make them succeed in life. Some of these opportunities can come from music. Over the last couple of years, scientific evidence has pointed to the numerous ways in music lessons can help boost brain development in kids. In fact, research has shown that music is among the most effective ways to help children in building motor skills, cognitive growth and enhanced learning comprehension.
However, with this in mind, many parents still wonder when the right time is for their children to begin lessons. With all the information available, parents can be equipped to know the best time to start violin lessons because this is a critical period. Being too early or too late can spell disaster.
Early Immersion
Starting from around birth to about the age of two, parents can introduce basic music concepts kids will love. Singing along to some baby songs while clapping, and making gentle movements like swaying can help create cognitive connections to the sound being played. As the child grows older, you can increase your child’s exposure to more formal aspects of music.
As your child progresses with age, and becomes more aware you should still continue training at home, and get them to enroll for early age music lessons at school and at the local community center where they can meet other kids. The whole idea is to get them focused on recognizing different tunes, rhythms, melodies and different musical instruments. Recordings and flashcards will just fine.
When it comes to the best time to start violin lessons for your kids, one of the common mistakes parents make is starting instrument training very early. If you introduce your child to violin training before they are ready, it could pressure them into rebellion and resentment. In fact, although pleasurable activities can bolster cognitive growth, research has shown forcing young kids to learn instruments can affect them negatively and hinder brain development.
Best Time to Start Violin for Kids
The best time to see whether your child is interested in violin training is around the age of five, preschool age. Violins come in different colors and sizes, so finding the right size and color shouldn’t be an issue. Just make sure you find one that suits their height and arm length.
It’s also a good idea to have your child choose the violin they want, this will certainly help keep them involved in something they love and of their own choosing. While private classes are good, there are several online programs that are specifically designed to teach violin for beginners. These can be a more productive option as they are intuitive, interactive and come with games to make the whole learning process fun.
Determining the Perfect Age to Start Violin Lessons online
Note that when it comes to violin training, there’s no one size for all. It’s a personal decision, and one that involves patience. Understanding your child’s interests will certainly help. ​

9 Questions to know before taking Drum Lessons at Los Angeles Music Teachers

Do I have to own a drum set to take drum lessons?
No. Many students start learning on a rubber practice pad and a pair of sticks. We recommend starting children at the age of five or six on keyboard/piano for a year or two and adults can start at any age. Then they have a huge head-start when they transition to Drum at the age of seven and it usually goes very smoothly for them.
Do I have to bring sticks to my first lesson?
No. Your teacher will have a pair you can borrow for the first lesson. Your teacher will suggest a pair of sticks that are the correct size for you based on music style, experience, etc. Then you can pick up a pair at a music store and bring them to future lessons.
Should I learn on an acoustic or electric drum kit?
If you are a beginner it doesn't really matter. There are some advantages to each. The cost is similar between electric and acoustic drums. You can wear headphones with electric drums and you can put rubber pads (silencers) on acoustic drums to bring the volume down. Please speak with your drum teacher about which drum set is right for you, your lifestyle and budget. You can always call our school office and someone will be happy to help you as with the brands and models as well.
What age is best to start learning to play drums?
Adults can start anytime! Students as young as five can learn to play but it is usually best if they wait until the age of seven to take drum lessons. Many people call us and say "my child plays pots and pans all the time and he is four years old. We want to get him into drum lessons." There is a big difference in having fun pounding away on pots, pans or even your desk if you are an adult and having your teacher give you certain patterns and songs to work on over and over until they are correct. Children under six and under generally don't have the attention span to take drum lessons. Instead, start them on keyboard until the age of seven and then switch them to drums if you really want to give them the best chance at success. Of course there are exceptions so please call us if you think your child is ready for drum lessons!
Do I have to bring my drum set to each lesson?
No. We have drum kits at our school for you to use at your lessons. However, you should bring your sticks (after the first lesson) and any books or other materials your teacher has you working on from week to week.
Do you teach snare drum and other percussion instruments?
Yes. Please call us for details as there are many different percussion instruments out there and various teachers at our many schools teach specific percussion instruments.
Do I have to know how to read music to play drums?
No. Your teacher will introduce you to drum music as you learn to play. Drum music notation is different than music notation for other instruments and is much easier to learn!
Are their performance opportunities for drummers at Los Angeles Music Teachers?
No. We are currently in an expansion in the school so we are just taking on private lessons, so we do not have any school concerts/performances, but any parent that would like to hear the students progress and want their child to have a performance to practice and prepare for, we can definitely set that up for you for we would like our students to grow and have something to work towards. We can set the drummers to perform a solo.
What kind of drums do you recommend for a beginner?
I would recommend contacting your teacher, there are many brands and models for basic and electric drum sets. Our teacher will give you the best advice on instruments you can purchase that will be excellent for you to start with.
Check out the Los Angeles Music Teachers page to learn more about drum lessons!
Contact us  or call us at 818-902-1233 or 
​email: rick@losangelesmusicteachers.com

Singers, you are musicians. Often times we are lost in the solo world of performance and emotive expression through sound. Which is awesome. But we are musicians and expected to be, and definitely respected much more so, when we act as such.


Solo performers are at somewhat a disadvantage when they show up at rehearsals with other kinds of musicians, a band, an orchestra, back up singers, or a pianist. We need to keep time so that people can play with us. We need to be able to follow a conductor during a staged performance. We need to be able to count.

And that is where piano or guitar lessons will do you some good. Learning to really read music, for real; rests, quarter notes, time signatures, key signatures, key changes, dynamics, tempo markings, minor, major, harmony...

And number one, being able to learn your part spot on, by yourself correctly, even when it is hard.

May we suggest you sign up for some piano or guitar lessons? We have been teaching and working in the profession for over 20 years. 

We love to teach the piano and guitar at los Angeles music teacher with a passion because it works a different part of your brain than a voice lesson. It always feels like completing a complicated math test after a good lesson and that is great for us. I am sure our piano/guitar students feel that way as well.

Also, what is fantastic about piano and guitar is that you can really track your improvement by completing levels of music so you know you are getting better.

Singing is more complicated. You have to be born with a certain amount of talent beyond your control. Lessons are important and help so much in singing, but it is different than piano playing. (You do need a certain amount of natural talent to be a concert pianist/guitarist of course- I am not referring to that).

So consider putting learning the piano/guitar on your list of things to do to further your singing level. We can not tell you as a singer how many times it came in handy for me to be able to pluck out my parts, or play the harmonies with my part so we could practice singing against them. Piano/guitar especially helped me out of college because we are able to teach voice lessons.
If you want to combine your voice with a guitar and piano, contact us at www.losangelesmusicteachers.com

​

If you have ever been thinking about taking voice lessons in person or online, but you just aren’t sure, here's a few FAC's to answer some things that you might be wondering about. A lot of people like to sing in a choir, in the car, or even in the shower. But is taking voice lessons right for you? The thought seems a little scary – particularly if you’re not used to singing in front of others, let alone a trained, professional instructor! Here is some information that can help you to decide if taking voice lessons is the right thing for you.

1. When should I start voice lessons?

“The sooner the better!” If we start with proper technique at a young age, we can get a solid foundation of healthy singing that will last a lifetime. It's best for getting a firm foundation, understanding how important breathing and understanding how to use your vocal cords without straining them.  At a very young age, we learn by copying! Don’t you remember a time when you copy the singers on the radio just because you like a particular song? As a matter of fact, vocal cords are like muscles, we train them to have muscle memory. Just as we train the greatest athletes at a young age, we can do the same with singers. As the voice is developing, we can start the same initial training that athletes do, but for the voice which can protect you from injuries to your vocal cords. 

2. Know your goals

The first thing you need to ask yourself is: what are my goals? Establishing your goals with singing is what will help you and your voice teacher set a path for your lessons. If your goals include sight reading better for your community choir, great. If they include one day singing on the Broadway stage, great. Knowing your goals with singing will help you to stay motivated and moving forward.

Your goals should be realistic and achievable though. Voice lessons will improve the sound that you already have, but they aren’t going to guarantee you a fame-worthy singing voice. Everyone can learn to sing better, and a voice teacher can help you learn how to use your voice to the best of its ability. If the goal is to access your full potential as singers with an emphasis on easy and natural sounding tone, you’re in the right direction.

3. What to expect from taking voice lessons online?

Voice lessons are about more than just singing. Vocal training engages the entire body and you will be instructed on correct posture, breathing and vowel shaping. Good singing lessons involve:

• Continuous diagnosis by your teacher on your personal vocal needs
• Exercises and repertoire/books selected according to the cause and effect principle to direct the lesson to what you need in your voice
• Applying those techniques to a song of your choice

Vocal changes take time and effort. One or two voice lessons will not be enough time for a teacher to have a real impact on how you sing. Expect to give it a few months before you hear changes. The more you pay attention to the adjustments your teacher suggests, the faster you will get results. Keep in mind that any adjustments to vocal technique are most effective when you apply them every time you sing – with the radio, in the shower, in choir class, and anywhere in between.

4. How long should each lesson be?

Basically, singing lessons should be as long and as frequent as you can afford them in term of time and finances! However, we’re not suggesting you should have a singing lesson every day – that’s a bit much! But a lesson at least once a week is beneficial for 99% of our students.

Voice lessons are usually broken into 30, 45, and 60-minute sessions. It would be best to start with 30 minutes and then discuss with the teacher how and if you would benefit from trying a longer lesson.

Normally we like to see our adult students for a 60 minute lesson every week so we can work in-depth on their voice and take a look at a song at the same time. This gives us as the teacher, and you as the student, an idea of how well you’re practicing and progressing.

But if 60 minutes a week is not financially viable for you, it’s better to have a 30 minute lesson every week. When you’re training your voice, frequency is much better than duration – you don’t want to form any unhealthy or bad habits! Some people take voice lessons just because they find it fun and consider it a hobby! In that case, we recommend going with whatever feels right to you, either 30 minutes or an hour. There really isn’t a right or wrong. There is plenty you can learn in either time frame.

Young kids don’t have as much vocal stamina, so 30 minutes at a time is best until around age 10. If your child is under 10, but you’d like them to have more lesson time, try two 30-minute lessons a week on different days.

5. How much will it cost and is it worth it?

Here at Los Angeles Music Teachers the Prices are all the same. For online or in person lessons its $35 for 30 minutes, $45 for 45 minutes, and $60 for 1 hour lessons. If we are traveling to your house then we will be adding a $10 Traveling fee. Whatever the price is, you must remember it is an investment! You are investing in learning a useful skill that can elevate you life in many ways. And that's something that is priceless!

One of the fastest ways to master jazz improvisation, no matter what instrument you play, is to start with one scale in one key and really learn to hear all the melodies and patterns in the scale.

You don’t need worry about all the other keys in the beginning. Yes, of course eventually you will need to learn them to really be fluent as an improviser. In the beginning though, you need to eliminate as much theory and thinking as possible. As you will see below, your brain and body can do amazing things if you don’t over think what you’re trying to train it to do.

Many people, myself included in the beginning, think that they can’t improvise because they don’t know enough scales and harmonic knowledge. That kind of thinking will just hold you back. Jazz improvisation is most quickly learned “by ear”. Listening to other saxophone players that you like and learning to HEAR the lines they are playing is how almost all of the great jazz musicians from the beginning of jazz up until the 1960’s learned how to improvise. In the 50’s and 60’s many great jazz teachers took up residency in the various colleges and began writing books on it. But the best improvisers learned by ear. Too much theory slows down the process.

If you want to see proof of how you can learn much faster by ear,  just check out any of these videos. In each one, these students have never played the saxophone before starting the method, they learned how to get a decent sound and learned only minimal reading. The method teaches you how to master one scale in one key so that your brain doesn’t get overloaded. The next step is to memorize 6 simple approach note pairs that resolve to target notes in each chord on a simple blues progression. There are many teachers who teach the blues scale and have their students learn a few licks or just let them wander around, but this method absolute teaches you to hear the chord changes and know exactly where you are at all times. Just take a listen to these students and notice how they are hitting all the chord changes. They are not reading anything except the chord symbols.
 
Their are no tricks in the method. Just a straight forward system of teaching that eliminates reading and theory and just trains your ear properly. And it’s not a dead end. It’s only the beginning of training your ear so that you can continue to build on the foundation that it lays.

So if you're interested in trying out your improvisation skills, we offer online lessons with limited in person lessons. You can contact us with any of the links below.

It goes without saying, but a lot of us are finding themselves stuck at home. That’s the bad news. The good news, however, there are a bunch of ways to get going teaching your lessons online without breaking the bank. Maybe you’ve never taught a lesson online in your life. That’s ok–this guide can help. 

TWO KEY FACTORS TO KEEP IN MIND
For all online one-on-one teaching, there are two major things that will determine the quality of the session:

1. How strong the internet connection is on both ends (student and teacher)
2. The quality of the audio gear being used

Having good video is great, of course, and I’ve got a few tips below for getting better-looking video for lessons. 
For music lessons, however, having a good microphone and headphones will make the difference between your online lessons being a breeze versus a torture session. 

START WITH THE GEAR YOU’VE GOT
As with everything in life, the better the gear you’re using, the higher-quality result you’ll get. But don’t worry—even if you’ve just got a phone, tablet, or laptop, you can get a quick & dirty setup to keep those lesson. 

WAYS TO CONNECT ONLINE WITH STUDENTS FOR LESSONS
There are a lot of tools out there for connecting with someone over video, and they continue to grow and evolve over time. But we Definitely Recommend zoom.

ZOOM
My current favorite method is Zoom. It’s free to use for one-on-one video chats, is available for Mac, PC, and mobile devices, and it seems to be the most stable platform.
Both you and your students need to download the Zoom app and create an account. This is easy and quick. You’ll also need to know the email that the student is using for their account.
You can schedule a Zoom meeting (aka online lesson) to start at a given time, and you invite your student to that meeting via email. This email link will automatically open up the Zoom app (or prompt them to download it if they haven’t done so).
Zoom will then ask both you and your student which video source and audio source to use. If you’re a total newbie and only have your phone, tablet, or laptop, no worries. You’ll be able to see and hear your student just fine.

Another great thing about Zoom is that the teacher can record the online lessons on their computer. This doesn’t work on the mobile version of Zoom, but if you’re using your desktop or laptop, you can just click the record button and it will save the lesson to your hard drive. 
You could then upload the lesson to YouTube as an unlisted video for your student to reference or use it in another fashion. What a cool and useful feature!

What is the difference between violin, viola, and cello?

When you are learning a string instrument in Los Angeles, it is important to know the main string instruments of an orchestra. Despite the fact that all are made from the same material and combination of parts, there are less similarities than differences. Following are the main differences of these, whether you are curious or your child is trying to choose an instrument for her elective:

Size -Violin Viola and Cello

Size-wise, violin is the smallest and cello is the largest.  Although viola is bigger than violin, it is only a slight difference and hard to tell to an inexperienced person. No matter the size of the instrument, your child can learn anything he or she wants! This is because all instruments come in small sizes. I have seen the smallest girls play bass and tallest guys play violin just as successfully!

Range and Strings of each String Instrument

Tuning-wise, violas and cellos are the same (A,D,G,C) and violins don’t have the C and have the E above the A. The strings go from shorter and thinner to thicker and longer based on instrument size. The violin range goes from G3 to A7. The viola range is C3-E6, as well as possessing a deeper tone. The cello range is C2-C6.

Position

The main difference between viola and violin vs. cello is how to hold it. Cello is played sitting down and in between the knees, with the end pin on the floor balancing the instrument. Violin and viola are positioned under the chin. The bow hold is also different between violin and viola vs. cello.

Orchestra role

The traditional melodic instrument in the orchestra is the violin, and the violinist closest to the conductor on the outside is called the concertmaster. This is the most important role in the orchestra, communicating directly with the conductor and helping lead the orchestra. Violas are mainly harmonic instruments, with cellos supporting the upper strings and interchanging between bass lines, harmony and melody.

Advantage competitively

Cello and violin are the most popular instruments. Viola is the hidden gem in the sense that you have an edge if you play it really well. Additionally, violin and viola are easier to play interchangeably so consider adding viola to your list of skills if you are a violinist.
It’s never too late to learn another instrument and Los Angeles Music Teachers is here to help you do that, whether it’s your first or an additional instrument.

Music lessons for children aged 7 and up. We are offering lessons for piano, saxophone, violin, and many other instruments. Our music teachers teach rock, blues, metal, country and classical music lessons. Beginner students can get to work on chords, simple songs, melodies, music theory, and tabs reading. We try to make each lesson joyful to learn. All the theory and technical concepts are divided into small parts and end in something fun. No matter if you want to learn your favorite guitar riff or learn to play your favorite song, you are welcome to bring your CDs or iPod to the class to learn it from the teachers.
If you are wondering who we are and what we do, in this blog we will cover all the aspects of our website and give you an overview of what we do. You will also learn a lot about our mission like why we founded this company and how you can benefit as a musician by choosing us as your music teachers.

Who We Are
We have professional and accomplished teachers and performers in the LA area who combined their expertise to form Los Angeles Music Teachers. In our long careers, we have taught for so many music schools but we were unable to produce the results we wanted due to the restrictions. It was the need of the hour to form a business that could overcome all the weaknesses of the competitors and offer something that could really provide benefits to the young students.

Our Mission
We believe that it is not necessary for a music school to have a complicated website that could confuse the student right in the very beginning. This is the reason why we made a website that is easy to navigate and provides all the information in the best way possible. Secondly, being music teachers, we want to offer lessons that are tailored to your needs and goals. Being musicians, we know that no two musicians are same and they cannot be taught in the same way.
It is one of our mantras to offer special discounts to our students. You can pay all your fees in advance either for a month or a year, whatever you are comfortable with. However, customer satisfaction is our main priority and if you are not satisfied with your first lesson, you can claim your full fee back. We won’t ask you any questions.
As we mentioned earlier that we like to offer discounts to our students, our referral scheme is something we take pride in. Just refer a friend to us and get a full month of free classes as a reward. We never impose our teaching plan on our students. We teach you what you are interested in learning; which is the beauty of our classes. No matter if it is a specific song or a riff, our experienced teachers will teach it to you. This is why we brag that it is a fun learning with us.

Hopefully, this post is enough to answer all your queries and introducing ourselves to you. If you still have any further questions, please call us now at (818)902-1233, or leave your question in the contact form. We will answer you as quickly as possible. Hope you have a good time reading, we look forward to hearing from you. ​