Learn to play by ear and improvise with a Berklee student with 11 years experience playing piano and 3 years teaching

Find out more about William

• 1) When did you first develop a passion for music and your favorite instrument?

  1) I remember the particular piece of music I played that really ignited my passion for piano: Claude Debussy's "Reverie". Such a simple and serene piece, but packed with texture and harmonic ingenuity. It was the first piano piece I listened to on repeat and approached with real passion. Debussy, through this piece and many others I learned subsequently, was a key composer in my piano journey.

• 2) Is there a particular type of music or artist that you listen to on a loop without it driving you crazy?

  2) Recently I've been loving the modern R&B sound. Artists like Leon Thomas, Giveon, H.E.R., Destin Conrad, and Victoria Monet have been on repeat for me. R&B chords are often complex and packed with extensions, which make them very satisfying to learn on piano. This genre of music has also been encouraging me to develop my guitar skills!

• 3) Explain to us the most difficult or riveting course you could personally give to a student of music.

  3) When students are dedicated and skilled enough, I find it extremely enriching to teach improvisation skills. Music is a language, and true musical fluency comes from learning how to speak that language by improvising phrases on the spot. Not many of my students have reached the point that we can really take a deep dive into improvisation, but when we do get that chance, it is extremely rewarding for both the student and myself to be able to have a sort of musical conversation. It truly is a new echelon of music to be able to improvise.

• 4) What do you think is the most complicated instrument to master and why?

  4) Every instrument has its nuances and complexities. The piano/keyboard is complex because the player must juggle many independent musical parts across two separate hands, though some might argue the linear and visual nature of the keyboard makes the instrument far simpler than, say, the guitar. Indeed, the fretboard of a guitar is much more difficult to visually understand, but on the other hand, transposing a song from one key to another on the guitar is so much easier than on the piano, since any one chord shape will look/feel the same as you move up the fretboard, whereas the same cannot be said about transposing a chord/scale/melody across the keyboard. Even when an instrument seems simple, there are always hidden complexities that musicians have developed in order to push the instrument's expressive range further (ie. bending notes on a harmonica, or "slapping" the bass)

• 5) What are your keys to success?

  5) In considering the answer to this question, I thought about my determination, dependability, knowledge, timeliness, teaching method, and consistency; none of these traits compare to what I have learned and gained from being a compassionate and kind person. I wouldn't be anywhere near the place I am now if I had not had a positive and compassionate mindset toward the people I interact with on a daily basis. The greatest feeling of fulfillment I get from teaching is seeing students leave the lesson happier than they came in, not just because of the music, but because of the way I think I treat students. The world would be a better place if more individuals put compassion a little higher on their priority list.

• 6) Name three musicians you dream of meeting in your favourite bar in the early hours of the morning. Explain why.

  6) Alexander Panos, Jacob Collier, and Teminite are vastly different musicians that have dramatically inspired me throughout my musical listening journey. All three have changed the way I listen to music as a whole. These artists are all very much still alive and I may get the chance to meet them at some point; if I did meet them, I would definitely be asking how they interpret their own music. I've found that I seem to extract very different meanings from certain pieces of music than the composer intended, and it would be interesting to talk to those artists about their music and what it means to them.

• 7) Provide a valuable anecdote related to music or your days at music school.

  7) When I first began to produce electronic music, I quickly got obsessed with the details. I would create a track and dig into the mix, tweaking tiny aspects of the drums, the synths, the bass, all in an attempt to achieve some perfectly balanced mix. I once came to a producer friend of mine with a track, and asked him to have a listen, and maybe tweak some things he felt needed work. He told me "it's a great start! I think you just need to stop being afraid of the sauce" and I didn't quite know what he meant until he got into the project on my computer and started making changes. His approach was much more Pollock-like, throwing distortion and reverb everywhere, beefing out every sound to an extent that I never would have until that point. His decisions were so drastic and unapologetic... and in the end he had created a track that breathed fire, all out of a track that was sterile and flat in an attempt to satisfy some need to keep everything clean and perfect. Sometimes it becomes lost on music learners that it is an art form, not a science. True expressiveness does not come from striving for perfection, it comes from being unapologetically imperfect.

• 8) What are the little touches that make you a Superprof in music?

  8) Creating a safe space in lessons is my highest priority. Though I absolutely want/expect my students to improve, I would much rather that students feel comfortable enough to describe and discuss their practicing experiences, instead of trying to hide the fact that they didn't practice out of shame or fear of what I might say. I remember coming into lessons with my strict classical piano teacher at age 10 and being so scared to show much progress, or lack thereof. The thing that really elevates my teaching is the relaxed laissez-faire attitude I bring to every lesson.