Music, math, baseball and more...

• Undergrad:

  California State University, Long Beach

• Tutors Out Of:

  Los Angeles, CA

• Travel Radius:

  16 miles

• Tutoring Certifications:

  algebra 1 - baseball - clarinet - elementary (k-6th) - English - general music - guitar - Microsoft word - prealgebra - songwriting

• Tutor's Fee Per Hour:

  $34.20 * with a 10% discount after purchasing $360

• Email Mike from Los Angeles today!

Hi! Patience, intelligence, an easy-going nature and a sense of humor are probably my strongest selling points as a tutor. I graduated cum laude from CSULB in 1991 and have worked a number of jobs since then, all the while pursuing my passion for music. I've played clarinet, guitar, sax, keyboards and other instruments and toured in Europe and the U.S. in different kinds of bands. I've recorded and played on several albums, and many songs I've written or co-written have appeared in movies and tv shows, and I've begun doing some composing and working on instrumental music for commercials and film. I can help a kid looking to start out either as a musician or songwriter, and I can also work with adults looking to start a new hobby or hone their skills. I'm also a life-long baseball fan, a sport I played as (mostly) first baseman and pitcher into my college days until I hurt my arm. I've periodically worked with kids over the years on the fundamentals of the game, but I'm also well-versed in many nuances of pitching, fielding, training and running the bases that a kid might benefit from to help take his/her game to a higher level. And, finally, my college degree was a B.A. in Liberal Studies with a Math concentration, so I certainly know my way around a math book! One thing I think I'm good at is helping a student understanding something by explaining it in different ways. It's pretty frustrating to look to your teacher for help and they just tell you the same exact thing again in the same way. Thanks for your interest!

• baseball

  I'm a life-long student of baseball, and I played it intensely until I was 18 and hurt my pitching arm. I was a multi-year all-star and starting pitcher on our varsity baseball team. I continued to play softball for many years after that. While still in high school I volunteered to teach at a baseball camp for kids. Later, when my dad starting coaching again (11-12 yr olds), I assisted him. I've continued to follow baseball and work with certain relatives' kids pitching, fielding and so on when I see them. My dad instilled in me the importance of "the fundamentals". I feel I'm especially well-suited to work with pitchers and infielders. I was a good hitter but I'm not sure I'd be the best teacher of hitting.

• clarinet

  I've been playing the clarinet for 32 years, including high school (where I was "first chair") and college. After college I put it down for awhile but picked it up again a few years later in a klezmer/cabaret/punk kind of band, and since then I've played it sporadically, from recording with various bands to playing in a "standards" show. My lesson-giving on the clarinet has been limited, but along with the proper rehearsal & fingering books I can help any student along in their studies, working on ombature, fingering, tonguing and breathing techniques.

• general music

  I wrote about much of this in my "free" section... but, to sum up, I've been playing music for 32 years and writing it for over 20. I'm a multi-instrumentalist (clarinet, sax, guitar, mandolin, piano, bass, banjo, pennywhistle, etc.) that has toured the U.S. and Europe playing music. I've engineered, produced, sung and played for commercials, I'm a songwriter and composer with music that's appeared in tv and film. I'm familiar with many different styles of music from classical (from baroque to modern), jazz, blues, "classic" and "modern" rock, country/folk/bluegrass, world music (irish, european, klezmer, african, cuban and so on). I'm very much a jack-of-all-trades in the world of music and should be able to help students with a wide variety of needs.

• guitar

  There's probably a million guitar teachers out there. I've been playing both acoustic and electric guitars for over 20 years, and banjo, bouzouki, mandolin and bass as well. I've never had a formal lesson myself, having a solid music background I was able to teach myself with the help of a fingering chart and lots of practice! It's such a fun thing, despite the frustration that can occur, learning the guitar, and I think I could help students keep that feeling while still working hard.

• piano

  Piano was my first instrument, which was taught to me at age 6 or so. I hated it. But I learned to read music, kept playing the piano sporadically until I heard a Scott Joplin piece in junior high and wanted to learn it. I asked for and took piano lessons at that point, and became a bit of a piano addict! Although my playing has sloughed off over the years to make room for all my other musical interests, I still play, and have helped a few kids who's parents thought their teacher wasn't "getting through" to the kid. I'm no virtuoso and would not be appropriate to teach advanced students, but with beginners or near-beginners who are stuck and are perhaps turned off by their current teacher, I can help them along.

• songwriting

  I started writing mostly joke songs in high school, about 20+ years ago, but quickly evolved into more straightforward rock songs. I studied songs by bands I liked, analyzing structure, lyrics, tempo, melody, harmony and chord progressions, solos, and so on. I've written/co-written well over 300 songs by now, I've lost count. A few songs have been used in tv/film, and there are many cds out there with my music. I can help someone new to songwriting get their feet wet by helping them develop their lyrical ideas through creative writing exercises, and work with them in whatever their style of music is, and if someone is a more accomplished writer but is blocked, I can help them get un-blocked by bringing a different perspective and trying exercises with them they perhaps hadn't thought of.