I teach bluegrass mandolin from my Petaluma music studio and in the surrounding area. My favorite aspect of teaching is helping students learn to get the most out of playing music with others—whether in a bluegrass jam or on stage with a band. In private lessons, I enjoy teaching students how to play supportive backup on the mandolin as well as how to craft and execute a bluegrass mandolin solo in a jam or band situation. I also co-teach the Intermediate Bluegrass Jamming class at the Folk Farm Music School in Sebastopol, where I help students on all bluegrass instruments learn to participate confidently and skillfully in bluegrass jams.
I started playing piano as a child, eventually adding guitar and mandolin. Today I play mandolin with several bands including Bluegrass Holiday, the Bloomfield Bluegrass Band, and the Rocky Wheels. I’m also Regional Director for the California Bluegrass Association’s Region 4 (Sonoma, Lake and Napa Counties) and I organize and lead jams throughout the area. I came to bluegrass music and to the mandolin out of a love of playing music with others, and my goal with students is to help them experience that fun and joy as much as I do.
I am as delighted to teach people who are absolute beginners as I am to help students who already play mandolin or attend bluegrass jams to gain skill and confidence with their playing. I can also teach music theory as it relates to bluegrass playing and harmony singing, using either the keyboard or mandolin as a teaching tool.