TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

We love music and we love teaching it. Our biggest aim and focus as a school is connection. Connecting people to each other, themselves, the world around them and to God. No matter who you are, everyone knows when they hear a good beat, a beautiful melody or a combination of sounds that move them. Music connects things within us, makes sense of our thoughts, feelings and actions, inspires us to dance, rest, laugh, cry and discover those things that are truest within ourselves and the world around us.

The language of music has been, to a great extent, removed from the home, the workplace and our everyday lives. It's been put on a pedestal of concerts and polished performances but we believe that music is for everyone with a desire to learn. Making music is an instinctual gift that we believe every single human possesses and needs to connect with and express. We are on a journey to bring music back to the rhythms and spaces of our everyday lives and build up musicians and communities that don't just perform music, but deeply love it!

We are all about a strong classical tradition of Bach, Beethoven and Mozart but we also believe that jazz, popular songs, musicals, film scores and music from around the world are important in shaping little musicians.

Every student has different goals and while we love giving a broad taste of music we also love to jump into the specific interests of each student. We foster ownership and confidence in letting even our youngest students play a role in choosing the music they play.

Ultimately, our goal for our students is to give them a positive and enriching connection with music. We hope is that our students and their families are inspired by the education and community they are invited into at Jacaranda Music Studios. We want to educate and excite, not only the whole person but the whole family!

wishing you all the best in your musical adventures,

David & Grace Vera

Founders & Teachers at
Jacaranda Music Studios

Improvisation + Theory

Improvisation means to create or play music spontaneously. When students are taught how to improvise in music they are primarily using their right brain. This side of music will inspire creativity and light up the imagination. It’s the space songs are written in and where ideas flow.

Theoretical instruction or instruction in music theory is studying the architecture behind music. When we listen to music it drifts into our ears without us having to think much in order to enjoy it but behind those beautiful sounds is the structure, the blueprint. When students learn the theory of music they are primarily using their left brain. This dimension of music instruction includes note-reading, knowledge of chord structure and recognition of timbre, dynamics, intervals, scales, melody, accompaniment and harmony.

While teaching theory ensures students learn how to read music and understand the way it works, teaching improvisation ensures they are learning to interpret and play music with feeling and imagination. Musicians need both to thrive.