LESSONS I PROVIDE

"I've had a few teachers and Nick is the best!! Nick treats the teaching as seriously as he treats the music, and the quality of his lessons and the impact on my playing is real. Nick has an uncanny knack for finding the 1-2 things that I need to work on most every week, and he's always able to convert these gaps in my playing -- whether they are technical, theoretical or artistic -- into crystal clear exercises that many books are simply missing. One of my favorite parts of working with Nick is that he always shares what he is working on himself and this makes perfect sense -- the best teachers are always pushing themselves in addition their students. The PDFs that Nick generates are great tools for organizing my practice and the lessons are extraordinary companions to the podcast. Our time spent in lessons is always well-structured. I recommend lessons to everyone for all instruments including guitar!"

​

Dan, from Boston

"My son, who is a Sophomore in High School, has been taking regular lessons with Nick for over three years.  Nick's personalized attention has significantly improved my son's skills.  Nick has helped my son grow into a strong sax-player, able to sight-read with ease, improvise with confidence, and to take on leadership roles as a young musician.  As an 8th grader, my son was awarded an Outstanding Individual Musicianship Award at the Maine Middle School Jazz State Competition.  As both a 9th and 10th grader, he was able to successfully audition for positions in both the Jazz and Symphonic High School All State Bands. None of these accomplishments would have been likely without Nick helping my son to hone his skills to perform at a much higher level than he would have otherwise. Beyond all that, my son just simply has a lot of fun learning from Nick.  He thinks Nick is awesome."

Katie, from Maine

“I played the saxophone in Elementary School, stopped, then picked it up again was I was 55 years old. Tried lessons with three different professionals, ended up working exclusively with Nick. My first lesson with Nick was two years ago, my development as a player has exceeded all of my, and friends, expectations. I highly recommend ”

Bruce, from New Hampshire

"I’ve been  serious jazz fan and amateur piano player for many years.
I’ve always wanted to learn how to improvise, and especially to be able to play bebop. 
Towards this goal I’d taken lessons and studied basic harmony on my own, with
unsatisfactory results.  While combing the internet for jazz blogs last year, I came
across “10 Minute Jazz Lesson” and followed that up by
contacting Nick to see if he had additional blogs. He suggested Skype
lessons, which I’ve been involved with now for the past 3 months, on an every other
week basis. The lessons have improved my playing and knowledge of jazz enormously.
Nick is able to structure lessons, both orally and through an ingenious software program
called Sibelious,  that allow for practice of complex concepts in small units.  As a performing
player (which makes him a serious student of jazz as well), Nick is jazz wise. Very hip, easy
guy to relate to.  I heartily endorse him to anyone who is serious about learning jazz in
a fun, non pressure context."

Mickey, from Chicago

"I decided to take private lessons to prepare for my first All-District audition on clarinet about two years ago, and I chose Nick specifically because I could tell that we had similar personalities. After a successful audition, I continued taking lessons with Nick because he is very good at diagnosing and working through the various challenges I come across, and because each lesson is on-task and productive. I have learned how to make my practicing more efficient, and the accountability from private lessons has helped me to practice regularly. Nick has also gone out of his way to help me with my musical endeavors by critiquing recordings I send him, revising my music resume, helping me with music supplements for college applications, and having a few lessons on the alto sax and Eb clarinet."

Mike, from Massachusetts

My 10-year old daughter has been studying with Nick for two years now, and I would recommend him wholeheartedly.  I have two children, both of whom have studied several different instruments with many different teachers; Nick is the best I have seen so far.  Nick has a wonderful way with children; he treats my daughter with respect and without talking down to her at all, and hits a great balance between finding fun pieces that she loves to play, while also keeping her motivated to work on the less fun (but necessary) exercises.  He is great at giving her feedback in a completely positive way, but also challenges her to take an active role in critiquing her own playing. I have been extremely happy with the progress she has made working with Nick, and would strongly recommend him to anyone, particularly parents looking for a great teacher for their child.

Kate, from New Hampshire