Bonnie Jantina teVelde, Founder/Instructor

Specializing in Private, Custom-Tailored Music Lessons for Students, Children, Age Four to Adult! See the 8 Signs of Musical Talent ,as well as Eight (8) Skills that we can use to help you learn music more effectively as an Adult, listed below.

PIANO * VOICE * GUITAR * DRUMS * VIOLIN * FLUTE * HARP * & More

All Syles, and All Levels...

Located in The Historic Old Town Of Arroyo Grande, CA, the teVelde School of Music is a state of the art, first class, musical education center. It's beautiful and relaxing atmosphere is designed to enhance all areas of musical learning and inspiration. We specialize in creating individualized, custom-tailored lesson plans for every music student. No matter what your goals, for yourself or your child... from learning to play or sing for personal enjoyment to attaining advanced skills for performing professionally... the teVelde School of Music has the resources to help you attain them.

We focus on helping the new musician discover their unique talents and achieve their goals, in a LOVING and SUPPORTIVE environment. This is accomplished by conducting a detailed initial evaluation that tells us EXACTLY how the student learns, and then modifying the curriculum and the way we teach to make learning music FUN and REWARDING for them. We know that if our students are successful and happy when they are learning, they will continue to stay in lessons and progress at a FAST PACE! We make sure the music that the student plays is graded carefully, so as to insure the fastest learning possible, with the most interesting and engaging music out there. Our goal is to keep students interested in learning by motivating them to stick with it throughout the years, because they love it.

At the same time, we never sacrifice the important goal of making sure that our students know the fundamentals of reading music, as well as playing by ear. This is as true for Vocal Students as it is for Piano, Guitar, or Drum students. Music is a language, and we do our best to insure that every student learns it fluently, with as little stress as possible.

Before Starting, 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, you (or your child) need to be tested for Musical Aptitudes at the youngest age 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! Once the ability is lost, it can be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to get it all back.

If your child shows signs of musical ability, PLEASE get musical instruction for them somewhere at the earliest age possible! With hard work, even older students can potentially get some of the ability back.

Music Education for Adults: we combine the latest studies on right & left brain usage, as well as techniques designed to take advantage of all of the knowledge you already have. There are so many skills that can be utilized in the teaching of music, if the teacher knows how to integrate them into your music studies.

Eight Skills that We will use to help Adults and Older Students to Learn More Effectively:

1. Typing or Computer Keyboarding

2. Reading - Fiction & Non-Fiction

3. Drawing, Artistic Abilities

4. Three (3) Dimentional Thinking, Engineering

5. English - Language Structure

6. Photography

7. Foreign Languages

8. Writing... From Poetry to Technical

INSTRUMENTAL INSTRUCTION OFFERED:

Piano*

Private and Dual (Parent & Child) Piano Lessons (2 Pianos in Each Teaching Room)

Suzuki Group Classes Available for children under 6 Years of Age

All Students Learn to Read Music and Play from Day One*

Complete Faber Method Used in the Optimal Environment for Each Student

Dou Dou Sight Reading Method (rhythm, voice, piano taught by ear & by sight)

Annual Review & Certification by a National Guild of Piano Teachers Judge

Beautiful Technique Taught from the First Day of Lessons

Piano Students Also Receive Rhythm Instruction via Drums

Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Instruction: All Styles, All Ages of Students

Important: Don't Be Fooled! Make sure your Piano Teacher knows what they are doing. Click Here for the 10 Most Important Qualities of a Good Teacher.

* SPECIAL NOTE: It has come to our attention that there are "teachers" out there inappropriately using the "Suzuki Method" on students that are older than 6 years old, without the strict curriculum, structure, and intense parental involvement that Shinichi Suzuki made clear that this method requires. This is a total misuse of the "Suzuki" name, and results in students that can not read a note of music. If a student can not read at the same level that they play, they will have to go back later and try to relearn everything. This is a complete waste of your money, and your child's effort, and very few students make it successfully through this process without quitting. They end up with low self esteem, always feeling like incomplete musicians. They have effectively been ruined by incorrect teaching. (The "Suzuki Method" is perfectly appropriate and effective for groups of students under 6 years old, if taught with active parental involvement and the correct routine at home as outline by Shinichi Suzuki in his book, "Nurtured by Love".)

It is important to ask questions to find out what a teacher's proven success rate has been. If they have been teaching over 3 years, they should have documentation from the National Guild of Piano Teachers, or another outside accreditation group stating that they are "Certified Teachers", and be able to demonstrate how many students of theirs have been evaluated and found to have been taught correctly during the term of their teaching experience. The National Guild of Piano Teachers gives this verification in the form of a Certificate that states that 25 students of the teacher have been heard by a certified Guild Judge, and have been found to have 17 more commendations in their playing than faults. If you are going to spend your hard-earned money on a teacher, you deserve to know whether they have taught students successfully in the past.

In Addition, ask your teacher to play for you. If the teacher can't manage much more than a Clementi Sonatina, or another work graded at Intermediate or less, the teacher isn't good enough to even teach beginning piano. It takes at least 10-15 years of lessons, as well as hours of practice and performance, for a pianist to be good enough to teach. Before that point, a pianist simply does not have the skills to teach a student the technique that they will need when they are advanced pianists themselves. A lot of the technique that advanced pianists use is taught in the first 3 years of piano lessons, when the student is building their core skills. To have to relearn these basic techniques later, because of a inexperienced piano "teacher", is painful and unnecessary work for a student who is working on more advanced repertoire. Many parents don't even ask the teacher to play for them when they meet the teacher. Be an informed student! Ask the teacher to play something by Chopin, and see if they can really play!

VOICE INSTRUCTION OFFERED:

Private or Group Voice Lessons

Ages 7 - Adult

Semi-Private Group Voice Instruction (3-4 Students per Class*)

All Levels, All Musical Styles, All Vocal Ranges & Techniques

FUN & SUPPORTIVE Atmosphere for students of all ages

Sing the type of music, and the songs you love!

* Subject to Class Availability, as classes often have a waiting list to get in

Learn How to:

Open Up Your Natural Vocal Instrument in a Relaxing and Fun Environment

Work on Issues with Stage Fright, Performance Anxiety

Breathe Utilizing Your Full Lung Capacity, With a Free and Relaxed Motion

Create Natural Resonance without Putting Excessive Stress on Your Vocal Chords

In-House Recording Studio and Vocal Analysis Software Used During Lessons

Learn how to Improve Your Tone Quality by Opening Up Your Throat Correctly

Learn how to place your voice on pitch, and keep it on pitch throughout the song you are singing

Record a Song and Take it Home on CD at the End of Your Lesson

 

Electric and Acoustic Guitar

Instruction in TAB, Chords, Reading, Ear Training, Songwriting, Rhythm & Lead

Students can play, sing, and record their own compositions in our digital recording studio!

Bass Guitar & Upright Bass

Instruction in TAB, Chords, and Staff Note Reading

Drums

Instruction in Drum Notation Reading, Full Kit, or Band/Orchestra Percussionist Training

All Piano Students are also taught drum rhythms and patterns both by sight, and by ear

Flute, Piccolo, Violin, Harp

Instruction in Developing Tone Quality, Beautiful Technique, Reading Music Notation

Advanced work with Rhythms and Key Signatures, Orchestral Preparation

Our Teachers have numerous years of Symphony Participation, as well as teaching experience. We choose only the best instrumentalists, with kind, gentle temperments that are guided by your learning style testing results.

Preschool Programs for Children, ages 3-5, using the Suzuki Method:

Our Suzuki Classes Are Taught Correctly, and Have a Maximum of 4 Students

Classes run in 8 week segments, with a 30 min. class, once per week

(Due to the nature of Suzuki Lessons, Parents are Required to Attend Classes and Work with Children)

For More Information, Click on teVelde Tots at the Side Bar.

FULL RECORDING STUDIO ON SITE:

Create Demo CD's of Your Songs or Lessons to Take Home Each Week for Practice
Practice Recording with Professional Equipment Every Week During Your Lesson
Training in Harmonization, and Composition of Melodies with Tasteful Vocal Harmonies
Practice Matching Your Favorite Artist's Vocal Qualities by Comparing the Sound waves Directly as You Sing Them