Ben Collins

(Currently accepting students at all times except 5:30-7:30pm PST!)

Hi everyone! My name's Ben and I'm a RCM approved, jazz-trained pianist who has been playing piano for 8 years now. My specialty is pop music and music theory, and I decided to apply to Lessonface because I disagree with how most curriculums and syllabuses force students to play songs they don't like. My belief is if the students learn to play songs that they like and want to play then use the curriculum around that, you will have a student that will both be less likely to be absent to classes and is more willing to participate and learn from the classes themselves. If I become your teacher, you will learn piano and/or music theory in your pace, your direction and how you want to understand the material.

My music repertoire goes further than just the Jazz Standards; I can help you with pop, video game music, rock, jazz, folk and even anime songs! As for Music Theory, I can teach up to a Grade 10 level (but Grade 8 Theory I have documented proof for).

The aim is to make things as fun as possible for the students. How I usually do things if have the student pick a song they want to learn, and then use that song to see where that is relevant to the RCM curriculum - for example, I could use the song 'Dance Monkey' to explain how cadences work, and how the melody utilises specific counterpoint techniques to make the song catchy to the listener. The student then learns that song and also indirectly learns some classical or jazz theory without even realising it.

For Theory, it is less ambitious - basically tell me what you're stuck with and I'll help you understand it. If an exam is coming up, I'll help you study for it.