Jason A. Music

I like to get to know their story, situation and ambitions, then establish short and longer-term goals, such as preparing for an audition, learning a song or a solo, figuring out a recorded solo, or just improving technique or coordination. 

I started drumming at age 7; was playing with bands at 9; started teaching lessons at 13.  Active in all the bands through high school, then made teaching and playing my full-time job in 1986.  Moved to New York in 1994 with the Big Apple Circus; attended graduate school in Jazz Performance and Music Ed; played in bands and shows of every kind and taught as a middle school band teacher, 2001-2022.  

$75 an hour.  

Throughout my life I didn't necessarily seek out teaching;  teaching came to me.  I had neighbors who asked me about lessons, so I said "Sure."  Then when my teacher opened a big music store, and asked me to take over the teaching there, I said, "Sure."  Then one summer, while on a gig, a trumpet player asked if I wanted to take over his teaching gig at a middle school.  (I said "no..." ).  But after one interview, they offered me the job. Two years later another district offered me a position, and two years after that another district offered me a position, and I stayed there until I retired from it in 2022.

I have had private students as young as two, and as old as 80.  I have found that I'm a good teacher when I have good students, no matter their age.  I like beginners; I've grown accustomed to middle-schoolers; I enjoy hihg school students and college kids; and I've had great experiences with adults who want to get back into it, or are beginners, or are pro players themselves.  

Well ...  "recent" seems like so long ago since COVID started...

Musically my more recent "events" were my own gigs as a band leader:  the Jason A. Big Band.  17-pc.  Great charts.  A few great concerts, and a great way to highlight someone / raise awareness of those battling Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.

At school I came up with doing a "Pizza and Karaoke Night" as a fundraiser for our Music in the Parks trip, and it turned out to be a very good event for the school.  

I would advise a student to find a teacher who has done what you want to do or learn.  If you want to prepare for an audition, for example, you'd probably want to learn from someone who has done a lot of auditions themselves, and who has been one doing the auditions as well, to get the perspective of one who knows what judges, adjudicators, band leaders, conductors are looking for. 

As students I feel it's not so important where we've been, or even where we are, but where we want to go is what's most important.  So we need to communicate the vision of where we want to go / do / accomplish, etc. to our teachers.  And we need to get that concept in our minds first:  what kind of musician do I want to be?  What kind of music do I want to know and be able to play?  What musical knowledge and skills do I need to play the music I want to play?