Scott’s Lessons

If you are an adult looking to start or pick up those music lessons you left off years (or decades…) ago, I recommend Scott highly. He was my son’s private drum teacher for about a year before I asked him if he’d be willing to take me on as a student. I had played the violin for many years, but was always interested in trying piano. I could tell from my son’s lessons that Scott was patient, nonjudgmental and easy to be around — all qualities that appealed to the adult student in me. Scott was happy to add me to his student roster and I’ve been with him for almost three years, first as a piano student and now also on guitar.
Scott is a truly excellent teacher, for both kids and adults. With my teenaged son Nick, who takes both drum and bass guitar lessons, Scott combines attention to the basics (scales, basic drum rhythms on a drum pad) with a willingness to follow Nick’s interest in learning particular songs or beats. It’s no surprise to me to hear Nick practice things like «Fly By Night» or «Tom Sawyer» by Rush, because they are cool pieces for a kid to have fun with after he learns them. But what really impresses me is that somehow Scott has gotten him to understand the value of starting a practice session with basic rudiments and warm-​ups — the kinds of exercises anyone, especially a teenager, might be tempted to skip to get to the «fun stuff.» So I’ll hear Nick tapping away on the drum pad for 15 minutes before he even starts practicing a song. That’s pretty great when a teacher can convince a teenager to do repetitive exercises on an instrument on his own initiative. No need for me to yell downstairs, «practice your scales!» It’s already happening.
With me, Scott is fantastic at teaching the rudiments of theory but also totally open to helping me learn any song I’d like. Since I started with him a few years ago, he’s worked with me on songs as diverse as Billy Joel’s «Just The Way You Are» to «Color my World» by Chicago to Miles Davis’ «So What.» I’m always seriously impressed that Scott can listen to any song and write it out musically in a way that I can read, and, with some self-​discipline, eventually play! And he’s totally cool about it when I admit that I’ve dropped the ball on practicing because my schedule has been really busy. His patience and flexibility are most welcome to the adult learner.
In addition to being our private teacher, Scott has also served as musical arranger and director for a few extended family holiday concerts. He’s created super user– friendly arrangements of holiday classics for diverse instruments (violin, drums, bass, piano, trumpet) and ages (5 to 55 years), and has even conducted rehearsals for all the amateur musicians involved. It’s been a pleasure for our family to benefit so much from Scott’s diverse talents and his enthusiasm for taking on different musical projects for us. I recommend him highly as a teacher, musical director, or arranger.