Spreading Love through Music!

Joshua S.

Hello! My name is Josh and I am from Fayetteville, Arkansas. I graduated in 2019 summa cum laude from Cornell University with a BA in Music, German, and Sound Studies, and finished my MFA in Performance/Composition from the California Institute of the Arts in 2021. I most recently completed a Fulbright Fellowship in Taipei, Taiwan, researching soundscapes and creating a multimedia art and music exhibition. Ask me about it!

Ever since I started piano lessons at age 7, I was very fortunate to have wonderful teachers and mentors who have guided me through my journey as a musician. Now, I want to spread the same love I felt from my music teachers to my students by tutoring! I have 7 years of private piano instruction, including teaching 35-student classrooms of third and fourth graders, and have experience tutoring students in piano and voice from as young as 7 to adults. I am well-versed in Western music and the German language, and scored a 5 on the AP Music Theory exam and AP German exam in high school (2015). I can speak conversational Mandarin Chinese.

The thing I love most about sharing my passion is getting to explore music and topics that my students enjoy. For example, one student that I had loves the cartoon "Steven Universe," and it was a perfect opportunity to teach music skills like transcription, music theory, and instrumental/vocal skills.

I bring a different approach to music education: rather than focus on set curriculum, I use concrete musical examples that students enjoy to teach the theory and technique behind the music. In my experience as an elementary school piano teacher, every student needs their own approach because every student has a different way of learning. I think all of us tend to learn best when we work on the things that we are most interested in.

I hope to spread my love for culture, the arts, and language by tutoring. Thanks, and I'll see you in a class!