David Ross Piano Studio, L.L.C.

David Ross’ Bio

For over 20 years, David Ross has been entertaining the world with his dynamic voice, distinguished piano playing and teaching, and creative songwriting. David’s music has been played and performed throughout the United States, as well as internationally, in Canada, Mexico, Russia, France, and Israel. David’s music combines elements of rock, pop, folk, and jazz to create a mixture of fresh and engaging sounds. David has served as Music Director for Camp Ramah in Los Angeles from 1994-1999 and was their Cultural Arts Director from 2000-2003. For over 13 years at Camp Ramah, David arranged and performed the music for over 75 musical productions. He has been teaching piano, voice, composition, songwriting and theory in a variety of settings for over 16 years. During the past 3 years, David has directed an intergenerational musical ensemble with participants ranging in age from 7 to 93. He has served as the Music Director for the Denver branch of the Rocky Mountain Theater for Kids and is doing so now for Kids Theatre West. David works full-time as the Business Director for the JCC Ranch Camp.

David’s musical training started at the age of six with formal classical piano lessons, and includes four years of classical percussion, and a year of classical voice training at the University of California, at Berkeley, where he earned his B.A. in music composition in 1995. He also earned his Certificate of Songwriting from UCLA in 1999. Album credits include “Words of the Soul,” “And You Shall Love,” “Beyond the Hills,” “Our Songs“, “Family & Friends,” and “Stained Glass”.

David resides in the Stapleton area of Denver with his wife Lauren and baby, Maya.

Mission

David Ross believes that performing arts is crucial to developing a well-rounded individual. Self-esteem, confidence, and leadership can all come out of the creative process. Therefore, David’s studio was designed to help develop motivation with regards to this avenue of creativity, performance, practice habits, and love of the artistic process. Lesson programs are designed to meet specific needs of each student. This includes a balance of theory, computer technology, sight playing, ear training, and repertoire appropriate to the student’s level of proficiency. Students will be encouraged to participate in programs designed to further these goals, such as recitals, competition and festivals.

Advantages of music study:

• Music study enhances school readiness, fine motor control, use of symbol systems, following directions, concentration, memory, perseverance, visual and aural discrimination, organizational skills, task completion, and goal setting.
• Music study encourages abstract thought and stimulates right-brain activities – synthesis, creativity, intuition, and innovation – skills that are not covered adequately by the school curriculum.
• Music study develops attention span and concentration level.
• Music study builds self-esteem and develops initiative.

Philosophy

My approach to lessons is simple: you get out of them what you put into them! I am not a strict disciplinarian who forces students to practice several hours a day. Rather, I work with each student (and their parents, if applicable), and decide on a practice system that is comfortable for everyone. I feel that approaching practice as an enjoyable activity rather than a chore is the best motivator. So my students practice according to their desires, schedules and abilities, and lessons are there to encourage that desire and to suggest better ways to help a student improve their skills. I also feel that a student that hasn’t had practice time will still be able to gain knowledge and have an enjoyable experience by coming to their lessons.

In addition to motivating students to practice through positivity, I also have an incentive program. Students may login their practice hours monthly into our on-line music program. Once they accumulate a certain number of hours, they earn music dollars which can be traded in for toys, musical instruments, games, movie tickets, gift cards, etc…

Methods

Currently, most of our students begin their course of study with the Randall & Nancy Faber Piano Adventure series. Young beginners (4-6) typically start with the My First Piano series, while older beginners (6-8) use the regular Primer Series. From there they go through various levels (1, 2A-B, 3A-B, 4 and 5). Children beginning around 9 will start with the Accelerated Piano Adventure Series, and adult beginners will use the Adult Piano Adventure series. Each level comes with the following books: lessons, performance, theory, technique & artistry, popular repertoire, Christmas music (when requested), and advanced performance. Also available are CD’s with the songs on them, so that students can practice at home with accompaniment. For more information, please visit www.pianoadventures.com.

Once students achieve a certain level of proficiency and desire, I supplement the Piano Adventure books with Hannon finger exercises and other theory activities. Once a student finishes level 5 of Piano Adventures, I usually move into beginning Bach & Beethoven books, as well as Classics to Modern books. Many students are also interested in popular music, and so I work with Fake Books to teach chord progressions, improvisation, and sometimes songwriting and singing.

Not all methods and books work for all students, so I am constantly adjusting the above outline for students who are interested in following different paths. I am very flexible when it comes to working with students in cultivating their interests and needs.

References

"David has specifically catered to my needs as a teacher. I asked to learn pop style and composition and he has specifically focused on both.His knowledge of various music genres makes him an ideal teacher for any area of interest.His home based lessons creates a personal atmosphere and "less corporate"which makes the lesson more enjoyable and informative."

------ Evan McGill (adult student)

"I only have nice things to say about David. I have had a few piano teachers in my life, but David is a pro. He is very patient and he makes learning fun. I hope to continue taking lessons with David for a long time to come."

----- Jennifer Satori (adult student)

"He's a great teacher and motivates me to keep learning. He's nice too."

----- Kevin Netz (child student)

“Our son Jack has taken lessons with David Ross for nearly a year and a half and truly enjoys David’s teaching approach. Before beginning lessons with David he had started to lose interest as his previous teacher made no effort to make the learning process fun. David is very much aware of the types of music he likes and makes an effort to allow him to choose pieces that interest and motivate him. However, he balances that with an appropriate amount of time spent on technique, exercises and improvisation...something our son really wanted to learn. He leaves each lesson excited about what he’s accomplished and almost always looks forward to his next session. Thanks to David, we believe our son will have a life-long appreciation for music and the enjoyment it brings.”

----- Margarita & Brady Corriere (parents of child student)

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