Sing It Forward Riso

I have decades of Public Speaking experience, INTERNATIONALLY, ACROSS THE UNITED; SINGAPORE; KUALA LUMPUR; BERGEN, NORWAY; MONTE CARLO, MONACO; SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

Master of Science in Special Education – National University – 2014

BS in Communicative Disorders; Vocal Instruction – Utah State University - 2017

BA in Advertising and Public Relations, and Music, with Minors in History and Geology – Georgia State University/University of Georgia – 1981

Yes, of course I have a "standard" pricing system for my lessons. However, that does not mean I don't make exceptions to my system. As a general rule, I charge $50 for a one-hour Private Lesson with me. A Private Lesson with me is JAM-PACKED with, literally, DECADES of experience and value! I'm not being egotistical; that is a fact. I have been PRACTICING my craft PROFESSIONALLY for OVER FIFTY YEARS! There are VERY few Teachers who can truthfully make that assertion, but because I can, I believe my students are receiving an AMAZING VALUE for their investment, and they are not only paying for my expertise, they are also receiving TANGIBLE RESOURCES in the form on my VOCAL PACKAGE, AS WELL AS DROPBOX VOCAL EXERCISES that are custom designed for their individual voices, which they are to work with every day at home, between their lessons. I am glad to work with students on pricing should they wish to lengthen their Lessons, come more frequently, need a price reduction for some legitimate reason, or wish to refer someone else. I will always reward a student with a free Lesson who brings me a new student!

Teaching is a very natural extension of learning, I think. I was always one of those "weirdos" who LOVED to learn. It's the reason I have so many under graduate degrees from different colleges, and why I only finished getting my last degree just a few years ago; I just LOVE school and learning! Therefore, I think it's only natural that when you love to learn, you want to SHARE WHAT you've learned with ANYONE who will listen. That's certainly how I got started helping people learn to sing and play the piano, and I started helping my sister and my son with speech, and school work because they had some special needs, so as I said, it was just a natural extension to continue helping others. I LOVE teaching! There is NOTHING so rewarding as seeing the light come on in someone eyes when they finally GET A PARTICULAR CONCEPT! You know what I'm talking about because we've ALL been in that position before of NEEDING to understand something, of needing someone to HELP US UNDERSTAND. I LOVE being that SOMEONE!

I've worked with ALL kinds of students. I used to teach at a Homeschool Cooperative where I mostly taught preschool and kindergarten age children. Then, I moved up to Fifth and Sixth Graders for History and Music. I have a Masters Degree in Special Education, so I work a lot with Autistic children and young adults, but then my sister is Autistic and she's 80! I have Piano students as young as 5, going through a LOT of teenagers and a number business people who are probably in their 30s to 50s. My oldest students are retired, though, and both are in their seventies, independently. The man is still working as a phlebotomist but the lady is a retired writer of one of those "For Dummies" books; I have an autographed copy! I've been REALLY Blessed to have all DIFFERENT kinds of students, and I LOVE it!

I was lucky enough to be part of several "Live" Recording Projects. We did all the Pre-Recording of Background Vocals and a lot of the Group Vocals, ahead of time. All of these were then used/blended in with the actual "Live" Vocals on the night of the "Live" Recording. I remember everything was just a blur. There was a big choir of people singing with us, as well as, AMAZING instrumentalists, and the men in the recording trailer outside were like alien spacemen, honestly, but the result was nothing short of miraculous. There is nothing more beautiful or powerful than music, and I'm so thrilled that we were able to capture a concert for posterity "Live". It was both exciting and compelling!

I teach in a number of areas but what I would recommend when looking to hire ANY new teacher is that you ORGANIZE A LIST OF QUESTIONS that you have and WRITE THEM DOWN. This is a very important decision! Sometimes when you get into an interview, a teacher can be intimidating or at least a little bit distracting, and you suddenly realize once you've left that you forgot to ask about his or her qualifications, or schooling, or fees, or WHATEVER IS MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU! WRITE DOWN YOUR PRIORITIES BECAUSE I PROMISE YOU, THE TEACHER WILL HAVE HIS OR HER PRIORITIES ORGANIZED AND LAID OUT FOR YOU ONCE YOU'RE SIGNED UP WITH THEM.

I think it's VERY important for a Student to know the Teacher's Attitudes about things before agreeing to sign on with them. As I mentioned above, I believe it's very important to come to your initial meeting with a list of questions to put to the Teacher about his or her Style of Teaching, Educational Background, Years of Experience, Preferences, What is His or Her Taste in Music, for example. If you're wanting to study Musical Theater, what is the last Musical this Teacher saw? When was the last time they were in New York? How well do they know the City? Do they know the 21 different types of Broadway Musicals? Which one is their favorite? In other words, how much do they REALLY know about Musicals? When you're going to be spending/investing real money into Lessons, you want to know that your Teacher is the REAL thing, and this is how you do it. It's also how you find the BEST, but also then how you can know that you can really TRUST your Teacher. THEN, you'll be able to open up to that Teacher and truly share your needs and build your strengths as well.