Capella School Of Music

Our staff will work to assess the ability level of each student and get to know that person's tastes in music.  We like to structure our teaching methods around the actual musical styles our students wish to learn, even to include the creation of their own compositions.  Many of the teachers utilize some published method books, but all of us also create our own teaching materials so that we can reach a given student in the way that he or she learns best.

All of our teachers have extensive backgrounds in music.  Most have University teaching degrees in music at a Masters or even a Doctoral level, and those who do not, often have over twenty years of professional experience as working musicians. Importantly, all of our teachers also pass criminal background and child abuse screenings as a requirement of their hire.  As owner of the school, Geoff Hansplant is a life-long musician with a Masters Degree in Education, has taught at every level from elementary through college, and, as a recording artist, has released two albums of original music, the most recent of which spent two weeks at number four in the country and was featured on many stations across northern Europe and the UK.

We work on a month to month tuition basis, so your obligation to us is strictly one month at a time and ours to you is to keep you happy and coming back for more!  Within that framework, lessons are structured as once a week, for either a half hour (beginners and young kids) or an hour (intermediate students and adults).  The costs of the tuition are $125 per month for the half hour students and $210 for the hour long students.  We invoice everyone by email at the end of each month for the month upcoming and accept personal checks or bank drafts at the school, or payment by any major credit card through our website's Paypal portal.

I have been an educator since the early 1990's, teaching English, primarily at the high school and college level.  I started the music school in 2005 (we used to be called the SoundStage School of Music) and have been teaching guitar there ever since.  Of course, in my capacity as owner of the school, I also hire the staff of music teachers and make myself available to teachers, students and parents to help tailor the teaching methods to best suit the student.  On my own, I teach folk, blues and rock guitar and have a particular facility with what we call the Piedmont style of guitar playing, flashy, finger style acoustic blues guitar.  I also like classic rock and progressive styles, and record in what is loosely called the Americana format with my bandmates in Dirt Track Racer.

We work with students of all ages and ability levels, from about four years old on up.  Over the years, we have had a lot of students with various special needs and we all enjoy sharing the gift of music and music making with them.  Also, we've had quite a few students go on to major in music in College, which is yet another form of validation of what we love to do.  At Cappella, we teach just about all of the major instruments, from guitar, piano, voice, electric bass and drums, through the strings (violin, viola, cello, double bass), folk instruments like mandolin and mando-cello, hand percussion, and the horns, reeds and woodwinds of the school orchestra.  We teach in all styles from classical through folk, blues, rock and jazz.

One of our on-going highlights is our rock and pop bands.  At our school, intermediate and advanced level students often join a rock or pop band, where they work under the direction of one of our staff and learn to play together as a band.  We always have at least a couple of bands running and this gives our students the chance to develop a musical bond with other performers, to hone their skills across a set of songs, and then to perform s a band at one of our six, yearly concerts.  This is where all of the hours of practice pay off for the students and, as teachers and mentors, we get to see their growth, not just as musicians, but as young people starting to find their way in their own social and scholastic endeavors.

Ultimately, the most important factor is to find the teacher who helps to focus the student's own excitement about making music.  The bond between teacher and student is very important; each one should want to bring their best to the lesson, for the other.  It is also important that the lesson itself not be constrained by the requirements of any method book. The teachable moment appears in many guises and the good teacher learns to see it and act upon it.  There is a difference between learning to play an instrument and being a musician. Playing an instrument is, in many ways, a mechanical vocation. Being a musician is about understanding how music works and how you, the player, can bring out the music that is in you, through your instrument.  This is a primary focal point for all of the teachers on our staff.

Students should always think big!  Tell us what kind of music you love and wish to play.  But remember, the way to Carnegie Hall is to "practice, practice, practice."  For our younger students, they are best served by parents who encourage them to stick with the learning of the fundamentals, because it is those fundamentals which make the playing in advanced techniques, possible.  Also, it is good to really check in with the teacher and ask of him or her what their plan is.  Give the teacher a chance to explain how what is being learned today leads to what will be taught, tomorrow.  Strong lines of communication between teacher, student and parent are the key.