Bonnie Jantina teVelde, Founder/Instructor

More About the teVelde School of Music

So... How do you know if you, or your child, have musical talent? Click here to jump to the list of 8 Signs of Musical Talent below.

How old should a child be before they can start music lessons? Click here to find out why to start your child in lessons as Young as Possible!!!

Special for Adult Students: 8 Things We Utilize to Help Adult Students Learn

We Specialize in the Instruction of:

PIANO * VOICE * GUITAR * DRUMS * BASS * HARP * MANDOLIN * VIOLIN * CELLO * BANJO * ACCORDION * FLUTE * BAND/ORCHESTRA INSTRUMENTS & More

Ages 2 - Adult

(Specializing in the Instruction of the Very Young Music Student)

10% Discount for Senior Citizens

(805) 474-1224

Email Us! 

Please Feel Free to Visit Our New Classrooms at:

624 East Grand Avenue, Arroyo Grande

(Next Door to Grand Performance Music & Soccer Mart!)

Here are the Eight (8) Signs of Musical Talent:

Do You or Your Child:

1. Love to listen to music (sometimes one favorite song over and over again)?

2. Notice sounds in the environment, or individual instruments in music?

3. Love to Perform (always wanting to be the one on stage that is singing or playing)?

4. Continually sing or hum a tune, or have a song playing in your mind?

5. Constantly tap fingers on surfaces, to the beat of internal or external music?

6. Always loved the sound of, or had a desire to learn to play a particular instrument? (for a child: draw pictures of an instrument or instruments?)

7. Figure out little tunes by ear without reading music?

8. Have parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, or other blood relatives who are musicians, including those who played only "by ear", sang, or who may have even had perfect pitch?

If you answered "yes" to 3 or more questions, there is a test that can be given to determine if you (or your child) have Musical Aptitudes. The test takes about 90 minutes, and can be administered to a child as young as 4-5 years old, with the parent's input, all the way through to adult aged students. It is recommended that this test be administered at the youngest age possible in children who show unusual musical abilities such as singing on pitch, or more of the signs listed above.* We have administered hundreds of these aptitude tests, and have years of experience determining the results of such testing. If you know of a child or adult who needs musical aptitude testing, have it done by Bonnie teVelde at the teVelde School of Music. Click Here to Learn More About How Young to Start Lessons

Susan's Story

Susan came to me for voice lessons several years ago. When we sat down at our review and goal setting meeting, I asked her what her 5 year goals were. She looked at me, and with a not too confident voice said, "I would really like to sing in a band". After years of piano and voice lessons, no one had ever asked her what her own musical goals were. She started her training, and 2 years later she auditioned for a local band. She was welcomed into the band, and is now their lead singer and keyboard player! I believe this is the power of setting goals, writing them down, and then getting the lessons that it takes to achieve them.

"You are a wonderful teacher, mentor, and friend to me. Thank you for everything you have given me." - Susan D., A.G.

Jonny's Story

Jonny always wanted to play drums, and his ultimate goal was to play drums in the local high school drum line. We wrote down his goal, with a achievement date of 5 years...

That was 5 years ago, when he started taking drums from Dean. He was only 11, in 7th grade. Today, Jonny is the First Chair of the Drum Line... having been in several all state drum corps., and a Senior at our local high school! He attained his goals and is living his dream, and so can your child!

Grim Statistics

The typical independent music teacher/tutor loses 50-70% of their new students in the first year of study. The reasons stated for quitting are usually stated as follows:

1. " I Just Don't Have Time to Practice."
2. "It's Just Not Fun to Play Anymore."
3. "My Teacher is Really Strict."
4. "I Don't Think I'm Doing Very Well."
5. "The Beginning Songs are Really Boring!"

A New and Better Way of Teaching!

After developing our learning style evaluation, we can give our teachers the tools to work with students in a truly custom-tailored environment... made for their personal optimal learning situation. Our music teachers KEEP over 95% of their new students, and continue to teach them year after year! The reasons stated for staying with their lessons are:

1. "I love to practice!"
2. "Playing is so fun!"
3. "My teacher is the best teacher, ever!"
4. "I love the songs I get to learn!"
5. "I'm really good at this... I LOVE MUSIC!"

Losing the Most Precious First Months of Learning

Don't lose the precious first 6 months of motivation to play by choosing a teacher that doesn't know how you or your child learns! Once that initial excitement to learn is gone, it's very difficult to get it back! It is so hard to regain that initial drive to learn when it has been destroyed by an inexperienced, insensitive, or untrained teacher.

Even Unmotivated Students Can Be Turned Around

If you have a child who is faltering in motivation, and wants to give up on lessons, give us a chance to turn it around. It's difficult, but not impossible, and it's never too late for a really good teacher to light the fire in their eyes again! With our evaluation process, all is not lost... we can and do turn these students around and motivate them again.

Piano Lessons:

We have earned National Guild 11 Honor Roll Awards for Teaching Excellence since 1997! This is the highest number of awards for any school on the Central Coast!

Why Do We Win Year after Year? Because:

Our Students Learn to Play Advanced Music Faster

Our Students Sight Read Music Better

Our Students Understand Music Theory Completely

& Most of All: Our Students LOVE TO PLAY EVERY DAY!

PIANO LESSONS: We focus on the individual student, finding out what motivates them to LOVE to play piano. From the first lesson, students are trained to listen as well as read the music. Every week, there is at least one really fun song that will get each student, no matter what the age, really excited about playing! That's our goal... to ignite the musician in every student we teach!

Violin, Viola, & Cello Lessons:

The Most Highly Experienced Strings Teacher in This Area

Teaching the Best of Suzuki and Traditional Methods

"Harry is the kindest, most gentle instructor I have ever seen. He is a true gem!" - Annie A.

"Elizabeth really works hard to make our lessons fun! I love to play the cello!!!" - Carrie G.

VOCAL Instruction:

Effective Techniques for Reducing Stage Fright

Teachers Who Understand How To Bring Out the Best in You

A Full Recording Studio for Digital Analysis and Demos

Teachers that Specialize in Teaching Voice to Children

VOICE LESSONS: When voice students first come to us, most have issues with confidence, breathing, and tone quality. With children, we get them singing fun, beautiful songs by disney artists and others. We want them to learn to breathe correctly, sing on pitch, and produce a clear, unforced, and pure tone. We work with them to improve their confidence so if they choose to perform, they will feel comfortable doing so.

For those who need more vocal help: We can analyze your tone, and give everything from small tuneups and corrections, to vocal therapy that can help you rebuild the entire muscular structure of your throat, creating the vocal instrument you desire. We also utilize software, that, utilized in conjunction with our recording studio, visually shows the vocal student how to change the way they sing to optimize their sound, and correct pitch problems. Unlike most voice teachers, we do not require that our students sing opera or foreign languages, although we do utilize classical exercises. Our technology and experience enables us to go straight to either music theater, or popular styles of music effectively. We can help you get where YOU want to go vocally!

GUITAR LESSONS: Our guitar lessons are FUN! Students can study any style of music that makes them excited about music!!! On the side, our guitar students learn not only chords, scales, and modes, but also how to read music. It's all in the presentation. We show students how to understand the music behind the sound that they love! Understanding it becomes fun when you are working on something you absolutely love! Our students end up motivated to practice, and becoming amazing artists in their own right!

We work hard to ignite the fire and desire for learning in every student we are entrusted with. We want our students leaving the school motivated and energized to want to play all week. We also have several teachers that can even help you with your vocals at the same time as your guitar playing. If or when you decide you want to sing and play, we can help you do it in a way that isn't intimidating or judgmental. We make it fun and relaxing to learn the way your brain takes in information! If you are going to take guitar lessons, take them with us!

DRUM LESSONS: Drum lessons at the teVelde School of Music are FUN! You leave your lesson every week wanting to play more! Our drum teacher, Dean Giles, has the highest student retention rate of any of our teachers because he is an expert at finding the fire and love of rhythm in his students... and making it exciting. Dean is not only a highly sought after studio and professional drummer, but a brilliant, accessible, fun, and motivating drum teacher. He presents his knowledge in a way that gets through to any kind of learner, with any amount of rhythmic ability. Our drum students will have access to the first full drum studio in South SLO County, which will feature 2 full drum kits for one-on-one instruction. Dean has been with us for over 8 years, and in addition to being a highly sought after studio drummer in Los Angeles, with studio credits to include production work on "Dancing with the Stars", Dean is a master teacher. He can teach all types of percussion and drum theory for band students, drum line cadences, and rock & roll, jazz, r&b, and country drums. If you are going to take drum lessons, take them with us!

BAND/ORCHESTRA INSTRUMENTAL LESSONS: If you need a little help getting to the next chair or level with your instrument, come to us. We will help you achieve the dreams you want for yourself. Most new instrumental students come to us when they have been in band for a while. They are looking for some help with reading music and getting to know their instrument. We have hired the best instrumental instructors to help you or your child learn band and orchestra instruments including flute, piccolo, trumpet, french horn, other woodwinds, brass, violin, viola, cello, and all percussion instruments. Our teachers specialize in helping each student learn to read music, create a solid tone, and feel comfortable with their instrument. Above all, we strive to make each lesson fun, and bring out the joy in the music so that it is worth sticking with throughout life! We want happy, excited, students who achieve the highest levels in the bands and orchestras that they participate in. We hire leaders in local bands and orchestras to tutor the younger children, and to help set a fun example for the younger children.

RECORDING: We are installing the latest in audio recording technology, so if you have a demo CD you have to get recorded, we can get the job done. We also allow all instrumental and vocal students to record their own Christmas CD's every year. This not only gives you a wonderful gift, every year, displaying your child's progress, but gives them the opportunity to participate in the whole recording process.

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Make Sure your Child doesn't LOSE their ability to have Perfect Pitch for LIFE! *There is an ability called Perfect Absolute Pitch, which is hereditary, but depends on action before the age of 6 to manifest. If your child has the gene for it, they must be put in music lessons before age 6 to develop the ability. If your child is older than age 6, do not panic. Make sure you start your child as young as possible. Every year that you lose, is a little more ability lost, but it doesn't have to be completely developed for your child to benefit from it enormously. It is an ability that seems to appear most often in children whose direct relatives demonstrated a gift for music, especially the ability to sing well, or play an instrument "by ear". If your child has a grand-parent or great-grandparent that had these abilities, though, AND/OR you notice that your child can sing a song on key at a very young age, or figure out a song on an instrument completely "by ear", MAKE SURE you have them tested for musical aptitudes as young as possible! Recent studies at the University of San Francisco prove that the ability of Perfect Absolute Pitch dramatically decreases in children who are not started in music lessons by the age of 6. By the age of 12, the ability decreases from a possible 95% accurate pitch identification skill at age 6, to less than 29%. This loss is permanent... the child may lose the ability for LIFE!

The teVelde School of Music specializes in developing Perfect Absolute Pitch in the students who have the genetic ability. Bonnie teVelde also has the ability, and has trained all teachers at the school on identification and development of this precious skill.

What is "Perfect Absolute Pitch"? The ability to hear any note, and without any outside reference, be able to name the note correctly... both the letter name and the octave it resides in. It has nothing to do with the students hearing, but actually develops as a result of a part in the student's brain that is larger than most people's. It has nothing to do with singing "on key", although many famous musicians and singers demonstrate the ability of Perfect Absolute Pitch.

When an adult has fully developed their ability of "Perfect Absolute Pitch", they hear a lot more in the music than an ordinary person. A close analogy would be: A colorblind person sees colors in "black and white", not knowing that there are actual colors there that are beautiful. Someone with perfect pitch is able to hear "in color", identifying the chord names, note names, and how they relate to each other just from hearing a song... with no written music, or outside reference.

It's imperative for children to start learning music from the time they are born, or as young as possible. Listening is the first tool that any parent can employ to bring the language of music into the child's conscience. Everything you listen to in the first 2 years of a child's life will be the foundation for their musical skills and outlook for their life. The young child's brain learns 80-90% of their language skills at this young age, and it is totally in a parent's control. If you want your child to be able to play and instrument and sing when they get older, expose them to a variety of styles of music, from classical and opera to classic rock, to country, to alternative.

8 Skills We Utilize To Help Adults Learn a musical instrument:

1. Reading - Most adults have been reading since they were children. This skill translates directly to reading music. We show each student directly how to use this ability to make reading music easier for them.
2. Typing - The hand/eye coordination required to type, even if it is hunting & pecking, is the same mental skill as reading music and playing a corresponding note/chord on an instrument. We show the student ways to use this skill to learn to find the notes more quickly.
3. Basic Math - The fundamental ability to count money, measure ingredients in a recipe, or complete a construction project helps a student understand time signatures and beats in the music. We use specific examples based on the adult's specific experiences to explain how time works in music.
4. Language - When an adult understands sentence structure, and writing, they have an advantage when learning music. With the right instruction, they will be able to correlate the similarities in understanding spoken language and understanding music as a language. We show each student how translating key signatures works just like translating spoken languages.
5. Established Right and Left Brain Connections - An adult has had many times in their life to build and strengthen the communication between the right & left sides of their brains. This is done through participating in activities such as: photography, drawing, painting, or following directions on a map. Learning a Sport is another very effective way of developing both sides of the brain, because when one first learns each skill of a sport, the process is very left brained. As the processes become automatic, ie: the tennis player begins to serve without thinking of each, individual step, it becomes a right brained process. Learning music is fundamentally a right & left brained activity, with melody and harmonies being handled in the right brain, and rhythm being handled in the left brain. With the right instruction, the student can be shown exactly how to use these learned right & left brained activities to make their music flow effortlessly.
6. Longer Attention Span - A human being's attention span is roughly equal to their age. Adults have a significantly longer attention span, and ability to focus, than children do. We test the length of each adult's attention span, and utilize exact timing to maximize learning while minimizing mental fatigue.
7. An adult knows that a skill is learned by going slow, being methodical, and following instructions. As a result, the complexities of music can be mastered more quickly, and remembered more accurately. The key is that the instructor must know how to pace the learning of each skill, and teach the student how to follow up at home. We work with tools such as the metronome, dual playing on two pianos, and poly-rhythmic practice to help set each phrase in the student's mind.
8. Determination - An adult has waited a long time to learn music, and is paying for their own lessons. They are much more motivated to really pay attention during the lesson, and, as a result, they can absorb much more of what the instructor says during each lesson. We take the time to clearly identify each skill we are teaching in each lesson, so the student can go home with clear goals for the coming week.

All of these examples are techniques that we, as your music teachers, can use to help you learn music more effortlessly.

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