Matt Bellamy

I can teach a student how to enjoy the process of practicing - teaching skills that allow a student to create their own exercises that align with their unique musical goals so that practicing never becomes a chore, but instead becomes a time to explore, be playful, and simply enjoy making sound.

I studied with various teachers (on various instruments), as well as played in as many bands as I could. Performing rehearsed music for others was just as much part of my education as sitting in lessons or practicing at home.

I play a Selmer Mark VI tenor saxophone, Yamaha soprano and alto saxophones, a Buescher clarinet, and use D’Addario reeds. I also compose and produce music in Logic Pro X, as well as notate compositions and arrangements in Sibelius. I use a variety of sample libraries, microphones and analog synthesizers for recording and music production.

My stubbornness and insistence on enjoying my experience with music helped me refuse to settle with boring practice sessions.

In addition to being easier to jump in and start playing songs more quickly (as opposed to string or brass instruments), the saxophone covers a wide range of traditional and contemporary genres that appear around the world, making it easy to find musical recordings of saxophone in any genre a student might want to explore, from jazz to electronics.

My priority is first and foremost is to get to know the kid - what’s important in their life? What are they excited to talk about or share with others? And then we work from there to incorporate our musical education into that.

Playing a small, intimate solo show of my own music outside at night under the moon to a small crowd. This was my first time combining saxophone, electronics, and my own signing in a live setting, which was very challenging but gave me inspiration to continue finding my own sound.

Jazz At Lincoln Center, performing at the Essentially Ellington Festival in high school.

Duke Ellington’s “The Far East Suite”

Hiking, traveling, camping and being outdoors; reading; learning about animals; board games with friends.

Jazz, Rock, Film Music, Ambient, Electronic, Orchestral/Chamber Music

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I can teach a student how to enjoy the process of practicing - teaching skills that allow a student to create their own exercises that align with their unique musical goals so that practicing never becomes a chore, but instead becomes a time to explore, be playful, and simply enjoy making sound.