I love to encourage song writing in my lessons. As soon as I sense a student is ready we take a creative leap we start to investigate writing in lessons. I teach classical music as I am classically trained. I am also at home teaching rock, folk and jazz styles and teach traditional classical music theory and jazz theory.
Whether you are interested in learning to read music or want to learn the basics, I have taught students multiple instruments, helped students get into a higher orchestra or even record their first or second record.
I have a successful performing career and have had a teaching studio in the Washington D.C. area for over 25 years. I am now starting my studio on the Monterey Peninsula! I have a Bachelors degree in music from George Mason University and have toured internationally in bands and ensembles across many genres. One of my greatest joys is to help students of all ages learn to play music and some even become artists of their own!
Cancelation Policy: Please give 24 hour notice to get credit for cancelations. Students pay at the beginning of the month. Lesson credits can be offered if notice is given. Credits are allowed to be transferred within one month of cancelation only. Please take your classes at the scheduled time each week. If you miss a class please be flexible with your teacher to find a time to make the lesson up as soon as possible.
Bachelor of Music George Mason University, Major: Cello Performance minor: World Music
Music Studio 2005-Present in the Washington, D.C. Area
DCAH Music Arts and Humanities Fellowship Program recipient 2019, 2020
International touring musician 2005 - 2018
Performs a wide arrange of styles
Many of my students receive scholarships to Universities and become life long musicians. Some students go on to become recording and performing artists.
The best teachers not only inspire and instruct a student well while they work together, but also provide that student with the passion, skill set, and strategies to keep going independently. Janel absolutely did that for me with my cello playing. I started playing cello through my school program when I was 10; by the time I hit middle school, I had bad habits technique-wise and little interest in the instrument anymore. Orchestra music wasn’t enough to motivate me. I quit for a full year, and my cello remained completely untouched during that time. Then my parents reached out to Janel. I instantly liked her - she was kind and compassionate, and really cool in so many ways. She worked with me on my form and I noticed results instantly. She furthered my classical training, but also let me explore turning my own favorite music and songs into something I could play on cello. She taught me to have fun with the folk and pop music that I loved. She worked the most important foundational goals - like good tone and technique - into lessons that she often designed based on my personal musical interests. She helped me tackle complicated sheet music from composers like Bach and Faure, but she also taught me how to play by ear and improvise. She empowered me to feel confident in different genres with the cello, and she opened my eyes to how my cello playing could be a form of self-expression. I liked her so much as a person too that I always wanted to make her proud, and suddenly the main thing I wanted to do as soon as I came home from school was practice cello. She helped me gain an intrinsic motivation for practicing, and it never felt like a chore imposed on me again. I felt confident and happy when I had her guiding my work with my instrument. Eventually I couldn’t work with her anymore as I went away for college, but her lessons always stayed with me. I found a way into the folk music scene where I moved by playing an Old Time tune she had taught me for my first jam - and I happened to meet my future husband there. Now we play gigs together often as a guitar and cello duo. Cello never ceased being one of the most important parts of my life. I give Janel the credit for inspiring me to pick it back up again as a kid, and for showing me how fulfilling and adaptable it could be throughout my life. Janel’s teaching is responsive to the individual needs of her students, it’s diverse and adaptable to so many genres, and she herself becomes a positive force in the lives of the musicians she works with - I can’t thank her enough for helping me stay with my cello.
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