Tobby Music
About
I am a trained singer, musician and performer. I earned my bachelor's degree at UCLA in theater/performance studies and I have studied singing technique for twelve years. I have studied opera, bluegrass, blues, hawaiian, traditional chinese singing, americana music and pop singing. I currently work as a professional singer, instrumentalist, composer and performer in the bay area. I believe everybody has the ability to find their unique way of expressing themselves musically and I aim to guide them to their path and help them along it.
I love teaching, music in particular. I enjoy helping students to see the joys of music by finding their specific avenue into its practice. I like that each student is different and I enjoy enabling them, observing their tendencies and guiding them through their practice. In my lessons I like letting students learn at their best pace and in a way that facilitates the most incorporation of skills. Students also teach me a great deal about how to improve as an educator and performer which I both enjoy and am honored to be privy to.
Highlights
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Frequently asked questions
What is your typical process for working with a new student?
Typically I hold the first lesson as a partial interview. Students' various life habits directly influence the singing and music playing process so I take note of all information that will affect lessons with respect to the student's privacy. I will then lead the student through a series of short exercises to place the student in an appropiate area of study within the continuum of singing techniques and continue with those exercises in that lesson, or in the subsequent lesson time pending. The frequency of lessons and rates are usually determined in the first lesson as the intensity of preparatory work on my part varies with the students' initial grasp on the material and their personal, unique schedule and life situations. In the first lesson my aim is to establish a structure on which to base my lesson plans and to ensure a fair rate for each of my clients. Since I travel to student's houses, I factor the distance travelled into my rate as well.
What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
I currently pracitce singing every day to aid my existing musical and educational carreer. I went to UCLA where I earned my bachelor's degree in performance studies and I have studied various forms of technical singing and music outside of university for twelve years. I have also taught in many classroom and ensemble environments as well as to individual students one-on-one. I have been studying, teaching, creating and performing music constantly for most of my life and I now work in the music business professionally.
Do you have a standard pricing system for your lessons? If so, please share the details here.
My rates are largely dependent on how far I have to travel to a student to give lessons. One half hour each way by car means I could have taught an additional lesson in the time it took my to drive to one student so I work around this fact most strongly. One hour lessons are typical and can range from 30 to 60 dollars per hour depending on transit time but I can also work with students to have longer sessions at reduced prices.
Essentially this approach allows me to be able to talk with my clients to work out a scale of pay that works best for both of us.
How did you get started teaching?
A large portion of my training at UCLA in particular was teaching in ensembles where students rotated into teaching positions to test their own skills. From here I was able to confidently offer my services to friends and collegues. From there I got a sense of what worked well in both one on one and group teaching situations and was able to start teaching on my own at the beginning of 2016. I've taught private lessons, group workshops and hands on early-education classes in the years since in the Los Angeles, Central Coast and the San Fransisco Bay areas.