It’s important to build good habits when one begins to learn the clarinet. Starting from the first lesson a student must be taught the fundamentals of breathing, posture, and hand position to avoid injury and/or muscle strains and aches. A good instructor will help to build these habits at every lesson and reinforce their importance through demonstration and simple drills.
My lessons at West Valley Music in Mountain View, California incorporate these very elements and integrate the musical fundamentals of rhythm, pitch and melody. I strive to develop each student individually at their own pace, and encourage them to not only have fun playing the clarinet but refine their skills a little at a time with no pressure.
I have nearly thirty years experience teaching middle school and high school level students in Mountain View, having begun teaching in that area in 2004 at The Community School For Music and Arts. Since then I have also been affiliated with both the Stevenson School in Pebble Beach California and Crystal Springs Uplands School in Hillsborough California.
Advanced Clarinet Students
With more advanced students I use proprietary content that I have either written myself or culled from my past teachers. My latest PDF book, Intermediate Etudes For The Aspiring Clarinetist Volume 1, has been very well received by my students and I have been seeing consistently great results with this text.
“Mark Sowlakis' new PDF text, Intermediate Etudes For The Aspiring Clarinetist Volume 1, absolutely improves on dated method books and brings clarinet pedagogy for young clarinetists into the new century. Highly recommended for intermediate level clarinetists that are serious about improving their playing.”
Clark W. Fobes
San Francisco CA
Honor Bands
Additionally I encourage my students to make audition recordings for honor bands if they are so inclined, and I have the equipment and skills it takes to engineer these recordings. Over the course of my career I have placed over 100 students into honor bands of all sorts, and dozens of students have received scholarships to prestigious music school.
Students of all ages and skill levels accepted. Consult with me for an overview and complimentary lesson plan. Try a free online 15 minute Meet & Greet as a complimentary introduction to my personalized comprehensive teaching style.
In person lessons now available at West Valley Music in Mountain View California. Online lessons available via Skype.
Please inquire for further details and rates.
Strive for tone.
Mark Sowlakis
markos@cruzio.com