To me, the most important aspect to enjoyable & fruitful learning is how it’s approached. I take special considerations in order to make our lessons together as easily-comprehensible and enriching as possible:
1) I make music simple, easy-to-understand, and relevant for any student - whether they’re a well-experienced musician or completely new to the subject
I re-examined the way that all fundamental & popular topics of music theory, songwriting, learning an instrument etc. are taught and devised better methods to the point that infamously hard-to-grasp common concepts (like meter & modes, if you’re familiar with those yet) are now easy enough to *completely* & thoroughly understand in as little as five minutes - genuinely!
2) I teach via active learning: tackling the material head-on & getting our hands dirty with it.
Students learn & retain infinitely more through vivid experiences - like playing, listening to, and/or creating music themselves - than they do by simply listening to someone talk and reading notes. I encourage the former as much as possible! I also strongly encourage pupils to learn by using their favorite music as the basis - learning is much more impactful & easier to stay inspired by if it’s done with music that genuinely moves you!
3) My curriculum is designed to instill a complete, well-rounded understanding of all the relevant concepts at hand:
No holes, no fragmentary knowledge, and nothing is taught without an explanation as to why it’s useful in actual practice/real music-making to boot. I ultimately want you to help you feel completely comfortable with and at ease with the subject.
And many more.
I also devise a personal curriculum for each student, depending on their goals, to focus their learning for a more meaningful experience.
I’ve been privately tutoring in music since 2016, primarily to composers as well as high school + college students enrolled in music-related courses. I’ve helped students go from being absolutely terrified of their upcoming tests & entrance exams for universities to boasting complete confidence in as little as ten minutes, as well as getting them caught up with a semester of theory in two week’s time - anything is possible with the right approach.
I’m very easy-to-reach and will always provide fast responses. I offer a free consultation so that we can introduce ourselves, identify your goals, and formulate the first step to your path for no charge. Please feel free to get in contact if you have any additional questions or to schedule a lesson!
I’m Zane - a classically-trained composer (under the tutelage of the Juilliard graduate, 30yr+ teacher, & Canadian composer Dr. Alan Belkin). I graduated with an Associates in Music Performance with top marks in every subject: Music Theory, Ear Training, Sight Singing, Sight Reading, Instrumental Performance etc. as well as having received two outstanding music scholarships. Afterwards, I decided that I would benefit more from intense private lessons than continuing with school, ultimately leading to world-class training via the fantastic Dr. Belkin. Since then, he gave me his personal blessing to start tutoring in music myself - which I've been doing since 2016.
I cover many topics, including but not limited to: music theory/analysis, ear training, sight-singing, piano, guitar, counterpoint, four-part harmony writing, transcription/dictation, and music production.
Zane is a great music! Very knowledgeable and excels at teaching beyond the standard academic method while still continuing his learning. Loves his craft and can breaks things down into fundamentals that are palatable for anyone!
Zane is one of the best music theory teachers I've ever had. Music theory is a tough subject to teach, so finding a teacher who can make it so easily digestible is awesome. Zane has taught me everything from the basics of scale degrees and intervals to the fundamentals of songwriting and composition.
I can't recommend Zane enough. I wish I had found him sooner. His ability to tailor his teaching style to whatever fits the student is top notch.
When I first started out learning the guitar and songwriting (my first-ever musical pursuits), I felt incredibly overwhelmed and like it was all over my head. I had tried a couple of teachers, with some decent success, but my gut told me that there was a lot left to be desired. I felt like I wasn't making the progress that I should have been, which was especially important to me since I don't have a lot of time to dedicate to music in the first place.
One day, I was practicing at school when someone had heard me and, in their curiosity, came over and introduced themselves. It was Zane; he was really interested in talking with me about my guitar playing, songwriting, and then eventually my issues that I was having that my instructor at the time wasn't able to resolve.
Zane took the time, then and there, to first put a definite finger on what exactly these issues were (I couldn't articulate them myself very well due to my inexperience), and he walked me through the ways to solve them. All in the matter of a few minutes, done with some clever analogies, simple diagrams, and singing-along. It was fascinating!
I've been studying with Zane ever since then, and I can confidently say that he gave me the courage to tackle music head-on. What was once confusing and honestly pretty irritating became crystal-clear and focused. Nowadays he's helping me as I write my first EP. I almost felt like giving up all of those months before our first encounter, and here we are now!
If there's anyone that I would recommend that a musician - new or experienced - should learn from, Zane would undoubtedly be my pick. You'll be glad that you did!
Zane has so much depth of knowledge in this topic that I go to him even for simple questions I may not understand. He always has a clear answer to whatever you need help with and I trust him to always give a prompt, friendly response. If you need to learn music theory, Zane is your guy.
Zane has been a close friend of mine for years and we've had a number of fun conversations about music theory. He's great at relating even the most difficult concepts and simplifying topics into easily digestible material. I've seen him talking confidently about music theory with others and has a vast wealth of knowledge on hand. Zane is without a doubt a fantastic teacher and I would highly recommend learning from him.
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