About Robert
Robert offers a unique approach to teaching music, focusing on improvisation and emotional connection with music. He teaches classical guitar, composition, electric guitar, guitar, and singer-songwriter lessons, exclusively online. With a Bachelor of Arts Degree with Honors in Music and a diverse performance background, Robert encourages students to find joy in music through songs that resonate with them. He has received several awards, including the SUNY Chancellor's Award and the Emerging Artist Showcase winner at the Susquehanna Folk Festival. Robert tailors lessons to each student's individual musical journey .
BOOK AN INTERVIEW WITH ROBERT NOW
Music has helped me to communicate more fully with the people around me, and has given me an increased sense of well-being and purpose throughout my life. I believe, first and foremost, in the emotional power of music, and I try to retain the awe that music inspires even during lessons when I am working with students on a particular technique or exercise. I believe that all music can be broken down into parts that any student can play, and I try my best to provide students with a complete, well-rounded musical education using the songs or pieces that mean something to them, so that they get to experience the joy of creating their own music. To that end, I try to encourage a comfort with improvisation in all students, so that they can find meaningful work through all the stages of learning an instrument.
Name: Robert (Full name will be provided upon registration)
Age: 30's
Gender: male
I have a Bachelor of Arts Degree with Honors in Music from the State University of New York at Oswego, where I studied classical and jazz guitar. I have played in a variety of professional capacities, including as a solo singer-songwriter, as a member of various jazz, pop, and rock bands, as a classical guitar soloist with an orchestra, as a member of a pit orchestra for multiple theater productions, and as an improviser utilizing live looping technology.
I was the recipient of the SUNY Chancellor's Award from the SUNY system in 2012 for my senior thesis: a symphony in four movements, for the four main ensembles of the college. I was the winner of the Singer-Songwriter Showdown at the Square Room in Knoxville, TN, USA in 2014. I was the Emerging Artist Showcase winner at the Susquehanna Folk Festival in 2020.
I have independently released several albums online of all original material. I have spent a good deal of time recording at home and creating orchestrations for songs I've written. I have created many arrangements of popular songs, at all levels of difficulty, for students to play in recitals and concerts. I have studied orchestration and music theory, and have written several pieces for various ensembles, including a symphony for four ensembles that was performed in 2011. I have also independently studied solo acoustic blues guitar extensively, and have mastered many thumb-picking and slide guitar styles. Finally, I have performed as an improvisor at various events since 2008 using live looping technology.
English
Rates and Studio Policies
Registration Fee: $25.00 (One-time lifetime registration fee may be used by all family members)
Rates for instruction:
30 minute private lesson: $39.00
45 minute private lesson: $49.00
60 minute private lesson: $59.00
Travel charge: additional $15.00 per visit (for lessons in a client's home as opposed to my studio)
1. Cancellation Policy
Lessons not cancelled or rescheduled with at least 24 hours notice are billable to the client and payable to the teacher. This does not of course apply to travel fees unless the notice is effectively given at the door and the teacher has travelled to the location.
2. Cessation (quitting) Policy
A client must provide a 2 lesson notice period to stop lessons. So a weekly student needs to give 2 weeks of notice, a biweekly student works out to 3 weeks notice and a twice weekly student works out to a week of notice.
3. Illness Policy
Lessons cancelled due to illness or extraordinary circumstances with less than 24 hours notice remain billable to the client and payable to the teacher.
BAH teachers are encouraged to offer a make-up lesson at a future date in the interest of client relations and general goodwill. This only makes sense as teaching a student with the flu for example, will ruin the rest of your week's employment.
No more than 2 lessons may be made up due to illness within a 60 day period.
4. Rescheduling Policy
Any lesson can be cancelled or rescheduled with at least 24 hours notice.
Summer Vacation and Extended Absence Policy
Clients may schedule longer absences for trips etc. 24 hours notice is required.
It is normal and typical for students and about 20% of our teachers to schedule a break in the summer. We do not enforce a notice period (see cessation of lessons) at the end of a long summer break.
5. Evaluation Period
There are no free trial lessons with Beethoven at Home but we do offer a 2 lesson evaluation period where it is easy to try out a teacher. There are no free lessons during the evaluation period and clients may choose to discontinue the lessons at any time by providing the required 24 hours notice. After the student's 3rd lesson the required 2 lesson notice period will apply (see cessation of lessons above).
Online lessons
Robert can provide online instruction. While other platforms are possible BAH strongly recommends the use of the Zoom video conferencing platform as it is optimized for music lessons and audio quality.