Elizabeth Anderson

     I have a BA in Classical Performance, a BA in Jazz Performance and a BA in Buisness. I had almost completed a Master’s Degree in Performance when a performance opportunity took me away from school and on the road tour the U.S. This is currently what I am and have been doing for the last 10 years. And it has been an amazing experience. 

       I currently play in several bands, Classic Swing Jazz, Avant Garde Jazz, Jam Band, 70’s Fusion, Cajun/Zydeco, Classical and last but not least Country. 

        The country project has had much success over the years performing for multiple 20,000 people concerts and touring the US. Their freshman single hit 50 on the Country radio charts and sophomore single that has just been released to much praise and is looking to climb even higher. 

       The original jazz project that is made up of members original compositions has been very successful locally playing all of the largest city events such as The Utah Arts Festival for several years in a row. 

     Also performed in 4 musicals as a pit musician, recorded several albums and asked to do session work for studios nation wide. I compose my own classical and jazz music and regularly perform them.

My Teaching Philosophy 

       I have been teaching private lessons for 15+ years. I started teaching my last year of high school and have been doing it ever since. 

       In the years I have been teaching my philosophy has changed slightly. I realized that some of the techniques that were used with me were not sufficient for every student. Some students are naturals at reading where others can hear a melody and pluck it out. Some students can play with a metronome and others can’t even hear it! 

       The old ways of teaching had to be reexamined and every students has to have a lesson that is challenging their weaknesses and allowing their strengths to be recognized but not pandered to.  In hopes of helping the student become a balanced musician able to play by ear and read music. 

      So with that in mind I decided to keep the Suzuki Books but not use the Suzuki method.  There is much to be learned from the books and they are beautifully crafted to take a student from beginner to advanced player.

     However the method has a few flaws. One of the main flaws is the songs are boring, tedious and if learned correctly take a while to learn and memorize. So I have come up with a couple of solutions.

     As a response to my students craving some new material (and the popularity of Lindsay Sterling) we decided to have monthly group lessons to all who wanted to come. The students picked the music and I threw in some wonderful classical music. After looking at the 200+ song list we decided to break the students into groups and of course the groups had to be named.