Rose Devika

Voice, Acoustic Guitar, Songwriting, English Literature, Singing, AP English Literature & Composition, Audio Recording and Music Production, Electric Guitar, Piano
5.0
(7 reviews)
75+ lessons booked on Lessonface

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from $30.00 / 30 Minutes

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About

Born in Toronto, Canada, Rose Devika is an award-winning singer-songwriter and spoken word poet whose unflinchingly honest verse disarms with its vulnerability and raw daring. Painting with sparse guitars, mellow upright pianos and majestic string arrangements, Rose Devika creates beautiful spaces for listeners to crawl into and explore.  

Rose won her first place at the 2017 Say Word LA Poetry Competition, and was placed on a poetry team that toured across Southern California for five months. At the international slam poetry competition, BNV, Rose performed in front of an audience of 3,000. Rose became a Los Angeles Youth Poet Ambassador and was selected as a finalist to be the Youth Poet Laureate of Los Angeles in June of 2017.

 Moving to New York with nothing but a 3/4 Yamaha Guitar she had been gifted, Rose attended Sarah Lawrence College as an English Major, after being awarded the Lucinda B. Watson Scholarship. She was selected as a finalist to be the Youth Poet Laureate of New York City and joined the Federal Hall Fellowship Program through Urban Word NYC. She joined the volunteer program ‘Right to Write’ where she facilitated weekly writing workshops at the Westchester Correctional Facility for male inmates, ages 18-24. 

Rose’s band ‘January Grit’ spent two years traveling and performing across New York, Toronto, and Southern California. In May of 2018, January Grit won Universal Music Canada’s Underground Sounds Competition. In September of that year the perfume company, Map of the Heart, featured January Grit’s song, ‘Sway’ on their Map of the Heart V.7 Commercial. January Grit worked with producer Antoine Arvizu to record and release their full-length debut album, ‘Here in Fahrenheit,’ which was released to all streaming platforms in January of 2019.

Rose Devika is now working as a solo artist. In December of 2020 she released her first solo single, ‘A Hell of a Lot Like You’ to all streaming platforms, for which she played all the instrumentation, self-recorded, and self-produced.

In early July of 2020 Rose Devika was offered a book publishing deal for her full-length manuscript of poetry and lyrics by Imperium Publishing. Her book, ‘The Anatomy of an Arsonist’ was published in January of 2021.

Rose completed her first Associate's degree in English and is currently in her last semester at MediaTech Institute to obtain her second Associate's degree in Recording Arts and Music Production. She is also employed by the school as a Studio Technician and teaches in-person lessons at the facility to local students. 

Rose is as passionate about teaching as she is about her artistry. Her teaching career started at age 16 when she began tutoring students grades 1-12 in reading comprehension, creative writing, English literature, and English composition at The Waldorf School of Orange County. After graduating high school with a 3.95 GPA of a possible 4.0 and moving to New York, Rose worked at St. Joseph's Elementary School in Bronxville as a daily after-school tutor in all subjects for students from pre-K to grade 5. Endlessly enthusiastic about the way poetry, lyricism, and music intertwine, Rose Devika has spent the last 4 years independently teaching online songwriting lessons via platforms such as Skype to students of all ages and skill levels.

Songwriting Testimonials:

“I started studying song writing and voice work with Rose a couple of years ago. She’s intellectually, intuitively and creatively so talented and is able to convey concepts simply and succinctly. Her caring nature allowed me the safe place to explore, make mistakes and pursue my craft without fear of judgment. The best environment for creativity to flourish.  At this point Rose has become a mentor that I call on for interpreting work of others projects in addition to fine tuning performances of my own material.  As an actor/writer/singer-songwriter, the most beneficial decision I made was to work with Rose. To my friend and mentor, Thank you!

          -Karen Charlton (Adult student) 

"As a violinist I have always been taught to play pieces that were written by other composers. Although this was largely fulfilling, I wanted to learn to create my own music. Rose was excellent at guiding me through songwriting and I felt as though she was able to connect with the messages I wanted to transmit through lyricism. I highly recommend Rose as a songwriter teacher to anyone that is just getting started or to anyone that wants to take their songwriting to the next level.” 

          -Sara Montgière (Teenage student in Canada taught via Skype) 

I’ve taken songwriting classes from Rose via Skype for about 7 months now.  She is a great teacher and I love our lessons because she always comes up with challenging but fun course material. She uses really cool and unique methods to help me expand my lyrics. She is always timely for our lessons and just so fun to work with. I highly recommend her as a teacher for songwriters of any level!”

          -Lydia Turino (Young adult student in Wisconsin taught via Skype)

These lessons have been absolutely incredible. I can tell that Rose is very clearly paying attention to what I do and say and build the lessons around that. I feel confident and prepared for every lesson due to the prep she gives me for the previous lesson and because I know she will always give me precise, in-depth explanations for anything we do or that I need better understanding for. On top of that, she is a fantastic person to work with; she's extremely friendly and I truly feel that I could contact her at any time and she'd be happy to respond at the soonest moment. I can tell that she has helped me improve tremendously and it can only get better.” 

          -Gage Kerley (Adult student in California taught via Zoom) 

Throughout my life I have taken a multitude of lessons in a wide variety of subjects, and have thus experienced many different teaching methods. More than anything, this has taught me that each and every student learns differently, which is why my first priority is to get to know you, your specific interests, and how you learn best. I strive to create a learning experience that is as individualized as possible, a learning environment where you feel comfortable, and lessons that inspire you, bring you joy, ignite or further your passion, and at times, challenge you to truly connect with yourself and the subject you are learning. 

Music, writing, and artistic endeavors of all sorts are immeasurably powerful and impactful tools to express yourself. I will always be honored to guide you on your path. I create a space where you can explore your interests, learn useful and applicable knowledge, lift your confidence, strengthen your voice, and find an outlet that brings you happiness, peace, and passion. 

When teaching voice lessons I ensure that we start by getting you comfortable in your range and style and that we cover the techniques and exercises to avoid any vocal strain. When you choose songs you love, want to learn to sing, or want to practice I am happy to accompany you on guitar or to provide a backing track. 

Similarly, when teaching beginner guitar I typically start by covering the basics to provide a foundation and to get you comfortable and acquainted with the instrument. I don’t typically teach much theory, but am happy to incorporate this into our lessons if it something you are interested in. Since songwriting is the subject I am most passionate about teaching, I particularly enjoy teaching students how to accompany themselves and how to build and create unique chord progressions. 

Songwriting is a subject that can be approached in so many ways. Whether you are simply interested in the language and intricacy of lyricism in written form, whether you want to learn to write both lyrics and melodies and voice, whether you want to learn to write chord progressions to accompany your lyrics and melodies, or whether you want to learn to arrange instrumentation for your songs- I am extraordinarily passionate about any approach or level you are interested in. I am also extremely well-versed in GarageBand, self-recording and editing to create a professional sounding track, and am very knowledgeable on useful equipment, ranging from simple beginner tools to professional gear. So, to anyone hoping to record the songs they write, I am more than happy to teach this process as well. 


Associates Degree in English
Nearly Completed Associates Degree in Recording Arts & Music Production
Co-founder of RTM Records with Producer Ty Macklin (Erykah Badu, Indie Arie)
Collaborated with artists such as Erik Chandler (Bowling for Soup)
Several poetry and music related awards mentioned in bio

Reviews of lessons with Rose Devika

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