Educated piano teacher willing to teach rock/pop plus composition
We are seeking a piano teacher in Berkeley or North Oakland for our teenage daughter. Our daughter loves rock music, but also has expressed interest in musical composition. Because of this we are looking specifically for a highly educated teacher who is open to teaching rock/pop, but who has a knowledge of musical theory sufficient to expertly teach composition. We feel that our daughter would definitely be more comfortable with a female teacher. Thanks for any leads.
Aug 1, 2018
Parent Replies
Janet Somers, in Rockridge, has a degree in music and is teaching our young son improvisation, which I think is similar to composition. We found Janet after going through a handful of other teachers who did not inspire him or was not willing to work on him with the music HE likes. He is having fun improvising and learning to play pop tunes that Janet has taken off of recordings for him, and I believe that he has learned lots of music theory in the process. A caveat: Janet is very patient, but she is also what some might call a “tough” teacher. If my son has not practiced a particular exercise she has assigned, she will not hesitate to ask him why. I think this is a good thing overall, Janet virtually demands excellence, dammit, and she gets it out of our kid! Her number is 510-653-6783 and her email is janetsomersmusic [at] gmail.com