Non-traditional Piano Lessons for Singers  (510) 655-1425

Learn to accompany yourself singing on the piano or keyboard.  Playing the chord background of the song will add depth, beauty, and enjoyment to your experience.  You can bypass the years of practice necessary to learn to play the piano in the traditional way, which is reading notes, usually working your way through progressive piano method books.  Instead, you will learn to play the chords of a song, while singing the melody, in any key.  (I can teach you to do this by ear or by reading charts.)  There is no such thing as a “difficult” key, only keys that you haven’t spent as much time with.  Also, you will be able to put the song into the key most comfortable for your voice.  All levels and ages welcome.

“I had always been amazed when I heard a singer tell the piano player to play the tune in a certain key.  Now I’m the one deciding which key to play the song in.  I can’t believe how do-able this is.  Thank you, Dale!”

“I had a difficult experience with my first piano teacher and thought I never would want to play again.  I wish that I had started with Dale.  I love to play and sing every day.  It’s my happy place.”

“How liberating to play without the sheet music.”

Sight-singing and Ear Training

Learn Sight Singing and Ear Training

Learn how to pick up a piece of music and sing it on sight, and how to hear a piece of music and write it down.  You can become one of the strong singers in your section.  Also, if you want to join a singing group that requires an audition, this is an excellent way to prepare.  This approach was originally designed for teaching music to children.  I had a Masters Degree in music before I discovered this approach, and wish so much that I could have learned music this way, because it makes the learning process easy and fun.  No previous musical training is necessary.  All levels and ages are welcome.

“I thought that a trained ear was something you were born with…(or not.)  Turns out not to be true.  With Dale’s help I can now sight sing pieces that we sing in my church choir.”

“I have always wanted to understand the language of music and somehow thought that I never could.  Now I feel in on the conversation that other musicians have.  It’s interesting and empowering.”

“I’ve been limited in my song writing to singing into a recorder, but now I can write down my songs and share them with other musicians.”

“Auditions used to intimidate the hell out of me.  Now I feel confident and prepared when I go to an audition.”

Piano and Songwriting

Are you a closet song writer?  I’d like to take you to the next level.  You will learn to write down songs that you have already composed, and write new ones.  You will learn basic keyboard skills so that you can choose chords for your songs.  Also, you will be able to sing your songs while accompanying yourself on the piano.  Empower yourself musically!

Dale Zola, MA Music, is a singer/songwriter and has taught sight-singing, ear training, and vocal production for thirty-three years.  She has led singing groups for over twenty years.  She is also a singer/songwriter, has produced several CD’s of her songs, and is co-producer, with her husband Dan, of The Great Night of Rumi and The Great Night of Soul Poetry.

“It’s so amazing to get my songs written down after all these years.”

“I’ve been dabbling with song writing for years.  Now I’ve got a notebook of songs that I’ve written.  I can hand any of these charts to the piano player who backs me up at gigs.”

“Dale has made learning music theory experiential, rather than theoretical.  I enjoy this process thoroughly.”

Sing Naturally

Ever hear a bird singing and realize that it’s a tiny sparrow perched on a wire down at the end of the block…now that’s vocal production!  What that bird is doing you can learn to do – support your voice, find resonance, and then amplify your resonance without pushing.  Singing should be as natural as speaking.  We don’t “get ready” to speak, we just speak.  I will teach you the basics of vocal production so that you can then bypass “technique” and enjoy expressing the full range of your emotions.  All levels and ages are welcome.  The lessons are fun and we will work in your preferred genre, with songs that you like.

“I was developing some serious vocal problems.  With Dale’s help I am singing naturally, without pushing.  This feels wonderful!”

“I have been stuck in the basement with my voice my whole life.  I honestly thought I was a female tenor.  Now I’m singing in my full range, enjoying the high notes, as well as the low”.

“After a lifetime of being insecure about singing I have grown to love my own voice.  Dale provides a safe and nurturing place to learn the basics of singing.”

Ever hear a bird singing and realize that it’s a tiny sparrow perched on a wire down at the end of the block…now that’s vocal production!  What that bird is doing you can learn to do – support your voice, find resonance, and then amplify your resonance without pushing.  Singing should be as natural as speaking.  We don’t “get ready” to speak, we just speak.  I will teach you the basics of vocal production so that you can then bypass “technique” and enjoy expressing the full range of your emotions.  All levels and ages are welcome.  The lessons are fun and we will work in your preferred genre, with songs that you like.

“I was developing some serious vocal problems.  With Dale’s help I am singing naturally, without pushing.  This feels wonderful!”

“I have been stuck in the basement with my voice my whole life.  I honestly thought I was a female tenor.  Now I’m singing in my full range, enjoying the high notes, as well as the low”.

“After a lifetime of being insecure about singing I have grown to love my own voice.  Dale provides a safe and nurturing place to learn the basics of singing.”

Learn To Carry a Tune   (510) 655-1425

Many people have felt for their whole lives that they innately do not have the ability to carry a tune.  This is just not true!

Carrying a tune is a skill ideally learned in youth, from adult modeling, like walking and talking.  There are many reasons a person might not have learned this skill as a child, the most common being that there simply wasn’t much singing around the house as they grew up.  If it didn’t happen as a child, the learning process that should have taken place in childhood can be experienced as an adult.

 

Dale’s Approach to Teaching a Student How to Carry a Tune  (510) 655-1425

First I have you sing a pitch, any pitch, and I sing the same pitch, entraining my voice with yours.  Then you sing another pitch and I do the same.  This gives you the experience of entraining.  We do this a number of times, so you can gain familiarity and get comfortable with what entraining sounds and feels like.  Then I sing a pitch and have you match my pitch.  You might have to fish around a little bit, but when you start matching my pitch you know it, you feel it, and you hear it.  We do this a number of times also, so you can gain familiarity and confidence in finding the same pitch that I’m singing.  Then I sing a simple two note song, and then we sing it together.  Over time, the songs get more complex.

Each lesson we do the above process, and also begin a parallel process of teaching you solfege, music’s language of do re mi, etc.  During this process you learn a four step approach to writing down a song and also how to pick up a piece of music and sing it on sight.  This is basic music literacy.

It is very empowering to become musically literate, and gives you an intellectual basis for understanding all that you are learning intuitively while learning how to carry a tune.