Piano, Voice, and Music Production with Ella P

I teach voice (jazz, pop, musical theatre), piano (classical and pop), self accompaniment for vocalists, and songwriting.

Voice

My lessons are structured, holistic, and highly tailored to my students’ needs and goals. Together we will explore pitch, placement, agility, technique, stylization, improvisation, repertoire, performance, and musicality. In our first meeting we will discuss your goals as well as areas in which you need more support. From there we will work to strengthen the voice and help you find your unique sound.

Self-Accompaniment for Vocalists

Playing an instrument is an essential skill for any serious vocalist. Self-accompaniment allows more creative freedom in performance, and is an important songwriting aid. In these lessons we will learn the basics of piano and/or guitar and dive into sight reading and music theory. For more experienced students, we will work on arrangement and transcription. The goal of our work is for students to be able to comfortably read and write chord charts and sheet music, accompany themselves, and have a thorough understanding of music theory.

Songwriting

An intimate and safe space for students to explore songwriting and/or composition. Much of this course is tailored to the student’s individual learning and writing style. In these lessons I often assign a song a week, which we can work through and discuss together in our classes. We will dissect songs that move us, discovering what makes them work, and how we can implement these skills in our own writing.

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As a child, music lessons allowed me to express myself and find emotional safety in the world. Music was a place I could go when I felt sad or overwhelmed or out of control. It offered self expression and taught me self discipline, persistence, and devotion. Teaching is my way of passing that way forward.

Growing up with a learning disability, I often struggled in traditional learning environments.  As a teacher, I strive to provide my students with the encouragement and structure they need in order to feel supported, challenged, and empowered. My greatest hope is to help my students discover their artistic selves.

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I grew up in a musical household and began playing piano and singing at a young age. My father is a jazz musician, and much of my early musical foundation was based in jazz and blues. In my adolescence I spent most of my time in choirs, bands, theatre, songwriting, and singing a cappella. I got my Bachelor’s degree at Berklee College of Music in Contemporary Writing and Production with a Minor in Musical Theatre. Post graduation, I began scoring short films and plays. Alongside teaching, I continue to work as a composer as well as a producer. I have also released an EP called “Please let me try again!”

I owe much of my current musical evolution to my peers who never cease to inspire and challenge me. I am grateful to be surrounded by a group of fellow artists, photographers, writers, actors, filmmakers, and musicians, all who have taught me so much. My artistic work is often inspired by other mediums and I feel grateful to live in a world with such abundant beauty and creativity. My students inspire me every day and I am consistently awed by their intelligence.

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Every student is fundamentally different, each with their own set of strengths and challenges. It is important to me to provide all students with a strong technical foundation, while also keeping in mind their personal goals and aspirations.

I like for my classes to feel open and collaborative. I attempt to establish a trusting relationship with my students early into our work together in hopes to encourage creative freedom and creative safety. Throughout our work, my students and I maintain a consistent dialogue about their goals, struggles, ideas, feelings and expectations. I then work to tailor each lesson in order to meet these goals.

I believe that learning music, while technical, can be a highly emotional, psychological, physiological and spiritual practice. Therefore, it requires a holistic approach. This applies especially to the voice. As singers, we use our bodies and minds as instruments. Aside from theory and technique, I try to stress stretching, alignment, daily warmups, hydration and nourishment, mindfulness and self care in our practice. Much of my pedigogical practice is based in techniques from vocal theorists such as Janice L. Chapman and Cornelius L. Reid, my past teacher Erin Bentlage, and, of course, my students who have been my guiding light.

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Films, my morning pages, yoga, going on walks in my neighborhood, long drives, live music, listening to an album all the way through, going through old journals, alone time, art museums, people watching, reading novels, reading poetry, collaging, learning a new piano piece, sitting at a cafe alone, travel, beauty, sadness, paying attention.

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