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Cam Taylor Piano Lessons Glenfield

Cam Taylor Piano Lessons Glenfield

Auckland

Piano Lessons | Keyboard Lessons, Singing Lessons | Aural Lessons, Theory Lessons, Composition Lessons, Jazz Improvisation Lessons, NCEA Music Tutoring, Online Lessons


  • Qualifications: BMus(Composition)/BA(Maths, Japanese) at the University of Auckland, ABRSM Grade 8 Piano Performance
  • Pricing: $36 for 30 mins, $54 for 45 mins, $72 for an hour. $18 travel charge to teach you in your home.
  • Styles: Jazz, pop, blues, early music, classical, contemporary, improvisation, and anything you can jam to, in traditional and non-traditional tunings
  • Suitability: Any age, any level

Bio

I graduated from the University of Auckland in 2013 with a conjoint Bachelor of Music majoring in Composition and Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and Japanese. I live and breathe music, playing and improvising solo and in groups in pop, jazz and folk styles, teaching what I know to anyone who wants to learn, and always striving to learn more myself. I have taught music to hundreds of students from age 4 to 70+ around Auckland since 2010, and am based in Glenfield, but am still travelling to students in cityside suburbs.

I’ve studied classical, jazz and popular styles, improvisation, early music, some middle eastern maqam, and little bits and pieces of other world musics, and I have a passion for expanding on the connection between the ear and the musical voice. I believe whatever you can hear and sing you can embody and know musically regardless of barriers of style, instrumentation or technique. I believe learning music primarily through the ear and audiation is fundamental to really being free as a musician.

I believe being a musician is more important than being a technically proficient concert instrumentalist, and feel that everyone should be given the chance to listen, sing and play, to see and hear the world in new ways, and explore vast possibilities.


Teaching Info

I tend to teach students what they want to learn, and try to make a point of finding out what they like in music and expanding on that. I believe growing the musical mind is important, so I tend to focus more on my students getting to know music through their own ears, voices and bodies first.

My teaching is informed by the Music Learning Theory (MLT) of Edwin Gordon, who compiled many of the positive aspects of the teaching philosophies of Laban, Kodaly, Suzuki, and Orff, and I take some inspiration from some other MLT exponents like Andy Mullen, Marilyn Lowe, and Krista Jadro. I like to draw an analogy between language learning and music learning, and think most modern “traditional” Western music learning is done backwards, with theory and explanations used to read, reading used to create sound at the instrument, and instrumental sound eventually used to learn how to listen.

MLT instruction follows a more natural progression, from acculturating and immersion in the musical language, to conversations (imitation, call/response, improvisation), vocally and then instrumentally, to learning fundamentally important sound concepts (macrobeat/microbeat/division, duple/triple/unequal metres, rhythm patterns, resting tone, major/minor/other modal tonalities, tonic and dominant, tonal patterns), and then finally using that understanding to improvise, learn songs by ear, arrange, compose, and read and write music notation.

I have experience playing and teaching in pop, rock and roll, jazz, blues, classical, gospel and other styles, and am always keen to broaden my students’ musical horizons as well as my own.

I also have a passion for musical tuning and alternative tuning systems, and think exploration and discussion of historical, modern and novel tunings are very fruitful in opening up new musical avenues.

For more information check out my website below.

https://cametaylor.wixsite.com/home

I had to move back to Sydney after 6 months in Auckland where I had piano lessons with Cam. He was absolutely fantastic and I really wanted to be able to leave a recommendation on the page or something similar as I was so disappointed I had to discontinue my lessons with him without telling him how much I enjoyed it. This seems like the second best way to do it! I felt very nervous about starting piano lessons again but his passion for music and enthusiasm for my wanting to learn made me feel so at ease and excited to learn again. He is so knowledgeable on theory and I found an interest in music theory. Something which I had always thought was the boring pre-curser to the fun hands-on stuff. He left me with resources to practice with and his enthusiasm made me want to practice during the time between lessons. He is also just a very lovey respectful young man and so willing to share his knowledge with others. That's all I wanted to say. Great website and I had such a fantastic experience with it! Warm Regards, Rachel

Rachel W

Dear: Cam Thank you for being my piano teacher. I've really enjoyed lessons this year. Donatella Dear Cam, We've really appreciated your teaching piano to Donatella this year and have been really happy with her progress. Thanks for being such a great teacher and we hope you have a Happy Christmas and best wishes for a great New Year. Jenny Paton

Donatella P

Thanks so much for his wonderful learning with you!! Charlie is changing schools next year and will do a full music curriculum at school so sadly this might be the end of his lessons with you for a while. Hopefully he’ll come back to it when he’s bigger (and has got used to a new routine with school). You’ve been awesome!!!

Charlie B

We are really thrilled with Louella's progress since she has been learning with Cam. She practices much more and gets greater joy from playing now that he is teaching her so please pass on our thanks to him. Kind regards Dawn H

Louella H

Thank you for all the wonderful teaching you have done with the kids over the many years you have been teaching them.

Ed, Georgie and Cate N

My boys learnt from you Cam years ago and they still speak about how much they enjoyed the way you taught. Thank you! You captured their interest and encouraged them.

William and Edward L

Congratulations to Cam Taylor for a signal achievement in books on intonation: a beginner-friendly introduction that is also expert-enchanting, at once a tour de force of accessible teaching and a treasure trove of theoretical information and useful lists. ... So Cam’s book can teach an old dog some new tricks; but its emancipated interval class and chain of fifths focus, combined with a diverse selection of scalar material and exquisite balance of melodic and harmonic dimensions make it an outstanding choice for a beginner with any kind of keyboard, generalized or otherwise.

Margo S

I Love it! you are always kind of rooted in expression and feeling, in some context, of styles of music, but not fixed to one, but kind of moving in a way that feels both free, yet still not disrespectful to "rules" that are still there.. and like in an open flow state.. almost impossible to put in to words, but it is a subtle but very clear experience that is kind of going to my heart, and that is hard to find.

David S

I loved every note of this. I agree with David. The freedom and gentle confidence with which you move around is something special, and very inspiring.

MDS

Wow — beautiful. I've been playing in 53EDO (in theory) for many years, but only monophonically/heterophonically (in classical Turkish music), but I don't really know it polyphonically; this is a wonderful example — I'll be listening to it again and again, I think — thanks!

Eric E
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