Educator

• Music learning is building systems that work to improve awareness to details which not only improves a heightened awareness to sound and rhythm sensitivity, but is a path to develop a musician's unique sound and style. I have taught all ages in both class and studio settings, and work to teach students concepts and systems so that they become their own teacher. Therefore, developing the students awareness through teaching them how to ask the right questions, allows independence- taking charge of their own idea generation and learning. A student can assess their performance and build awareness through their own personalized rubric, tracking sheets and by assessing their playing by recording devices (sound and/or video).

Vicky's Violin

Cut-to-the-chase methodical approaches to practicing, developing artistry and creative thinking.

• My musical training began in the public school band program in 4th grade.  Graduated my last year in high school from Interlochen Arts Academy, attended a total of 5 different music Conservatories / University Music Programs in which I studied the saxophone repertoire, multiple woodwinds (flute, clarinet, saxophones, and a bit of oboe), baroque performance practice, jazz, and music instrumental methods. Last, but not least, I have completed all my Army School of Music training, which gave me in incredible insight to really questioning my programming and performance on stage in light of the Tom Jackson model. How do you take all that was learned and shape a product out of it? Therefore, bringing musical training in a presentation on stage.  What image is to be created?

Music Schools: Rutgers University (DMA); New England Conservatory (GD); Manhattan School of Music (saxophone program); Florida State University (M.M. Woodwinds); University of Southern Mississippi (Performance & Instrumental Methods)

• I was fortunate to have studied saxophone with Sigurd Rascher who taught me to question everything, and marvel at the wonders of nature questioning how was everything made that way with such perfection and sense. How can the engineering of nature be applied to learning music or anything for that matter? This was such an amazing philosophical point of view, which has formed my essential questioning of how to motivate others to think for themselves and empowered to learn. Through my studies, I was able to learn first hand about the works written for Rascher, which are staples in the classical saxophone repertoire, and learn what details the composers discussed with Rascher during the composition process of the works written for him.

• Instrumental Diction, Tempo (NJMEA), MAY 2007
• On the Road to Rhythmic Development, SBO MAY 2007
• Keep the Music Playing, Tempo (NJMEA), MAR 2007
• Rehearsing in Style, Tempo (NJMEA), JAN 2007
• The Bebop Approach, Jazz Ed,  JAN 2007  
• Academia.edu
• Teachers Pay Teachers

• Through research, it has been proven that the brain fires mostly through musical learning/performance. Even if the data was not available, it could be easily proven that musical study utilizes many aspects that causes the brain to workout simultaneously unlike any other subject,which includes:  intense focus, visualization, auditory (pitch recognition), memory, associations, kinesthetics, trouble shooting, and the list certainly goes on and on! I believe that every child should be entitled to have a musical experience as part of their country's education system. Kodaly (Hungarian Composer), believe so that is why he created the Kodaly system for pitch recognition and rhythmic development. Music is a study worth fighting for!  
• Einstein had a passion for music and played the violin: "A funny anecdote: Pianist, J Rubenstein is supposed to have made the comment, “For God’s sake professor, can’t you count to four?”  

Levels of Creativity through Music

• The possibility of melodic material is infinite!  A student just has to  start even with just three notes having to just mix it up through simple rules to begin writing music. 
• It first begins with the thought put into just ONE STEP resulting to action.  The goal is to motivate the start where one idea will lead to another.
  
• Classical musicians all improvised mostly before the Romantic Period, and then jazz took over improvisation where the classical musicians left off. Composing / Improvisation are creating original music or musical thought, and reading music is a more technical task that has a lighter form of creativity due to interpreting the pre-written musical composition.  All forms of musicianship are important, but which one requires more thought?

WHAT IS CREATIVITY:

• READING MUSIC to some extent -   music interpretational shapes phrase through the use of the musical elements.
• ARRANGING MUSIC, moderate - pre-written music, but arranging it for other instruments and form takes thought.
• IMPROVISATION, highly - even though a chord progression exists, the performers choice of notes for creating the solo does involve thinking making it a creative piece - music composed on the spot!
• COMPOSING:highly -  this is all musical thinking similar to how an author writes; what is the story and how will it develop and end? In a way, music interpretation is asking the same question, but in light as a reader. How will the interpretation convey the progression of the story?

Design Thinking-drafting actions steps,

• thought should precede any type of music making.  Our mind should generate ideas and not muscle memory for instrumental playing and using the instrument to compose for general music composition.  We should model Mozart as an example as his music was written in his mind and then transcribed on the score.