teVelde Music, Inc.

Bonnie teVelde, Owner/Instructor

The Best Teachers Anywhere!

The Best Used Pianos in SLO!

Over 150 Students Currently Learning Perfect Pitch with our new TAP Method! Find out more

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Why Choose teVelde?

I'm Bonnie teVelde, and I want to invite you to come and learn music at my schools. I knew, from the first day I starting teaching music, that I was born to teach. I wake up every day excited because I know I am going to have the honor of working with amazing students, families, and parents like you. You have my 100% commitment that I will do whatever it takes to make sure you and your family has the best music education experience available anywhere, period.

I have searched for teachers who have the passion for excellence that comes from a purity of heart and a love of music of all types. We work tirelessly to teach in the most motivating, positive, and intuitive manner, designing a custom-tailored lesson plan for every student. My teachers are required to demonstrate a lifelong history of the study of music, as well as teaching, and undergo ongoing training in learning psychology & techniques, early childhood education, as well as ongoing music education of their own. Our teachers understand what learning music is about, from a first hand perspective. We want our students to love studying an instrument or voice AT EVERY LEVEL, not just some day way out in the future. We want you to love the journey of learning about music!

I have been working on a method to teach perfect pitch (Absolute Pitch) for years. I started out targeting just students who had signs of musical talent and close relatives who play "by ear". I call my method the "T.A.P. Method" (teVelde Absolute Pitch Method). I started training my teachers to teach the method, even though they did not have AP themselves. I wanted to see if they could teach it, even if they didn't have it. Not only can they teach it, they now are developing AP themselves. No longer is Absolute Pitch only for people who are "born" with it, and only if they start lessons before the age of 6. I firmly believe almost anyone can learn to hear the notes and identify them. That said, we have found that the younger a student is, the faster they pick up the ability... almost like they don't lose it. It is said that absolute pitch is how babies identify the voices of their parents.

What I can now say, after having the results verified by 2 independent judges over the period of 1.5 years, is that my TAP Method works! Not only on children, but on adults, especially musically trained adults! I have just finished writing the first method book, "The TAP Method, Book One, The White Keys". It will be self published in the next month. Along with the method book, we will have a DVD instruction video, a story book, and several teaching aides. If you would like to have more information about the TAP Method, please click here to e-mail Bonnie.

Figuring out how the human brain works so I can teach it in the most motivating and intuitive manner for every student, no matter what age, level, instrument, personality type, or learning style is my goal. Every one of my students has a special gift for music, and every day I have the opportunity to figure out what that gift is, and how to help them develop it to its full potential.

People ask me how I find the amazing teachers who work for me. I tell them that I look for teachers first, musicians second. On the surface, this may not seem like it makes a lot of sense, and this does not mean that my teachers aren't amazing musicians... because they all are. What I mean is: performing musicians don't always make the best teachers. This is because their focus, as it should be if they are professional performers, is on their careers and their music. A musical performer does not have to take classes in teaching, psychology, or learning. On the other hand, a teacher who is also an excellent musician is the music teacher that will change a life forever. I am continually searching for that gem; that extraordinary, passionate, person that is excited about sharing their wealth of knowledge with others. I want teachers that you would write down when a form asks you who your favorite teacher was when you were a child. That kind of teacher that also plays an instrument well, is the one in a million individual I want at my schools. I believe I have found precisely these kinds of teachers, and I want to share them with you.

Today I was standing outside one of my teaching rooms listening to one of our teachers teach their students. Tears came to my eyes as I listened, because I realized, once again, that these music educators are some of the best human beings I have ever had the privilege to meet. I want to invite you to meet them too.

This is my website. This is my school. This is my passion, and my life's work. Welcome to the teVelde School of Music. Join us, and I guarantee you and/or your children will love learning music for the rest of your lives.

Instruments Offered :

Our Mission Statement :

Perfect Absolute Pitch: Our Greatest Mission

We consider our greatest contribution to every student and potential musician is the opportunity to work with us develop perfect absolute pitch (AP) recognition in every student. Bonnie has created The T.A.P. Method to develop the valuable skill of AP and The T.A.P. Method is used in TM classrooms every single day to help students' brains come alive and their musical understanding flourish! The first in a series of T.A.P. Method books will soon be available. We currently have over 200 students learning perfect absolute pitch. Click here for more information on AP and The T.A.P. Method.

Tour :

If you are considering music lessons for yourself or your child, and would like to take a tour of our school, meet some of our teachers, and look at our instruments & equipment, please feel free to click here: Contact Bonnie. I will be happy to set up a time to meet you and give you a personalized tour.

Private Lessons :

The teVelde School of Music offers private, one-on-one, music lessons that are customized for each student's personal learning style. This makes learning music easy and fun! Interviewing over 60 teachers to find just one, we have the most effective, excited, motivated, and highly qualified, teachers available. It isn't enough to just play an instrument well to be a good teacher. We hire trained teachers, who have the additional quality of being trained musicians as well. Each one of them is teaching because they love the process of sharing their gift with a student.

We work with children, from ages 2 & up, for 10-15 of their most formative years, and our sole purpose is to provide excellent mentors and role models. We work with teens who need solid role models to show them how incredibly quickly they can learn, while showing them a way to find solace during difficult phases of life. We work with adult professionals who have achieved many goals in life, and now, finally, have the opportunity to study music. Teaching a subject as difficult as music requires a special mentor, and, no matter what the age of the student, the teacher must absolutely love seeing their student become a motivated, proficient musician who loves the journey every day!

Do you have these questions?:

School of Rock Summer Camp, 2012:

We offer Two Annual, 2-week, Summer Camp Programs that allow students to connect with other musicians in an intensive, Two (2) Week Course. The students are grouped into "bands", and are taught Keyboard, Guitar, Bass, Drums, and Voice for Two (2) Hours a Day. Summer Camp has a limited number of openings for students, grades 2-8. We have beginning groups for students who have never played an instrument, and intermediate/advanced groups, for students who play one or more instruments. For more information, click here!

This year's School of Rock students learned how to play songs like, "Obladi Oblada," by The Beatles; "Firework," by Katy Perry; and "Iron Man," by Black Sabbath. See some of this year's students perform in a real band setting by going to the teVelde Music YouTube Channel.

Now Accepting for School of Rock 2012

Students Dealing with Learning Challenges

With the development of our new T.A.P. Method, we have started to use pitch to work with some of our students dealing with challenges specific to traumatic brain injuries. In a surprising turn of events, where before it was difficult for these students to learn to read music and apply it to playing specific songs, with the TAB Method system for writing music with colors, it is not only possible but easy for them to learn to play songs! We are now putting together a curriculum utilizing the colors of the TAP Method to work with students who are dealing with brain injuries, learning disabilities, and other challenges to learning music. Please contact us if you would like to be a part of our study on how the TAP Method can utilize music and color for healing. We consider it our highest honor to figure out how to help students work with their challenges and make a real difference for them, their self expression, and their unheard gifts! Please e-mail me personally if you have questions in these areas. E-mail Bonnie

Debut Strings Orchestra

Director Peggy Whitson has put together a fun and educational orchestra for our beginning/intermediate string students to have the opportunity to play together. This experience is available for all of our string students, and registration is by semester. We have Fall, Spring, and Summer semesters. Our summer semester will be augmented by an intensive summer string workshop! Please contact us if you would like more information!