John Sanders
About
My name is John Sanders and have been teaching music lessons on piano, keyboards and guitar for 30 years. I have operated successful after school music programs in San Francisco and Memphis and I have a Masters degree in music theory from University of Memphis. I have also played in professional bands in Texas, California and Memphis performing RmB, rock, jazz, reggae, Latin rock, electronic music and free improvisation.
I currently teach lessons from my home studio, both in person and on line. Prior to this I operated after school music programs at many schools in the San Francisco area and in the Memphis area. My teaching style is very relaxed, I want the student to find their inner motivation and I want them to enjoy their lessons. I am very flexible and I am more than happy to adjust so that the student is learning exactly what they came to me for. I can teach a wide variety of styles from classical piano to punk rock guitar. I also specialize in RnB, pop, classic rock and jazz. I can teach students how to improvise and how to use theory to read chord charts and how to turn those chord charts into presentable music.
I have a bachelors degree in music composition with a minor in piano from Texas A&M in Commerce and a masters degree in music composition with a minor in theory from the University of Memphis. I am also Orff certified by the University of Memphis. I received a $700 grant from Fayette County TN for my Orff ensemble work with children. I also designed and currently manage the jazz website, jazzmusicarchives.com
For piano and keyboards I prefer to start off with the Alfreds Piano system. From there I have a huge collection of classical, jazz and pop literature that I can recommend. On guitar i mostly use literature that I have developed over the years, some of it includes original pieces I have written. I teach students how to read tablature and chord symbols so that they can eventually become self sufficient.