Phil Johnson Music Lessons

Phil has rekindled my love of music with his patient and encouraging help with the trumpet. I feel lucky to have such a pro guiding me, and I always enjoy our lessons.
You can’t go wrong with Phil – I recommend him highly.

Phil is a rarity amongst music teachers, he is both an exceptional performer and a exceptional teacher. I have known teachers who could teach but didn’t have a feel for performance and likewise performers who couldn’t teach. Perhaps this isn’t so critical for beginning students, but for any one youth or adult who really wants to play at a top level it is must have quality.
I study jazz and classical piano with Phil as well as music theory. Phil has been able to help progress on all fronts at a rate that I wouldn’t have believed possible before working with him. He has the uncanny ability to know what’s next in the music journey.
I highly recommend Phil to anyone who really wants to master the instrument, piano or trumpet and who wants to grow into being performance ready.

Phil has been both my piano teacher and music director for a local adult band in Boulder, where I was playing the bass as a beginner. Before having Phil as a teacher, I played the piano on and off for ~10 years.
Phil is a great teacher, and adapts to your level as well as to the areas you want to focus on. We have worked on practice technique, dynamics, interval training, chord theory, as well as learning new, more difficult pieces (a Bach Fugue and a Chopin Impromptu), and piano technique in general. I am amazed at how much I’ve learned in just a few short months. We’ve worked mostly on classical music and theory, but we’re starting to dive a little bit into jazz chords and scales.
He’s also teaching my wife, who is a piano beginner, and she’s delighted by how patient Phil is with her, and by how much she has learned in just two months.
We’re both extremely happy to have Phil as a teacher.

I’ve learned so much from Phil about improv approach and playing with others! From my experience these are hard things to learn, but Phil’s examples and analogies have helped me think in new and different ways. Patient and inspiring!