Hi there and thank your for you interest in lessons with The Oboe Academy! 

I am Dr. Nate Burgos but you can call me Nate.  I would like to tell you a little bit about what we offer here at the Oboe Academy and how we are different than most music studios and private music lessons.  First, I would like to tell you about two different programs we offer to students from beginner to advanced and even in college! First, we have traditional weekly private one-on-one lessons.  Our unique program provides weekly one-on-one lessons with All Lesson Materials Included.  That means no more trips to the music store or searching online for books and sheet music for the parents.  Everything is included in your weekly lesson fee! Our lesson curriculum is custom created for each student based on their learning style, goals, and level, so each student received exactly the lessons they need to be successful. In addition, we also provide every student with Detailed Lesson Summaries after every lesson which are emailed to both the student and parent.  With us, both scheduling and payment are easy with full online accounts for both the student and parent to access scheduling, lesson notes, all books and materials, calendar, and see current balance and even pay with one click!  We strive to make everything easy for both our students and parents with our online portal. Now, I would like to let you know about our second program.  We have created an exciting new program for students who would prefer to work in a small group and save a little money.  With our small group program, you can register for a group of 2, 3, or 4 students.  You can either sign up with your friends for a small group class or we can help match you with students of a similar playing level.  Small group lessons include everything that you receive in private lessons.  Groups of 2 meet once a week for 30 minutes.  Groups of 3 and 4 meet once a week for 45 minutes.  Finally, we give all of our students Open Office Hours each week.  This means that any student can sign up to meet for 10 minutes for free after their lesson to clarify a concept or just work on a problem area or just sign up for a little feedback or guided practice.  We feel being able to check in mid-week from your lesson can be a big help to our students sometimes, especially during audition times!  Well, this was just a brief overview of the two programs we offer here at The Oboe Academy.  If you scroll on down, I will give you more details on each program, tell you more about my background and experience, talk about our low pricing for both private and group lessons, and maybe even play a little for you!  See you in the next video.

Let's talk about Private Lessons first!

Hi. Let’s talk a little more about our private lesson experience and how we teach.  All of our lessons are provided via Zoom which is accessible directly through our Student Portal.  Once students log-in, they will see their next scheduled lesson and then click on the link to join that lesson. Once inside Zoom, each student can wait in our waiting room until their lesson start time.  I will then bring you into our lesson room where you will meet one-on-one with me.  Inside the lesson room, you will see me from two different camera angles, one with a close up of my fingers and one with a full view of my teaching area. This allows students two different angles to see everything going on just like in person.  You will also be able to see my computer screen, when needed, so that I can share sheet music, diagrams, and videos.  We also have a chat function for students with auditory disabilities.  In this lesson room, I can also send sheet music files and other materials directly to you.  Finally, per student and parent request, lessons can be recorded and shared with you so that you can rewatch them at any time.  But don’t worry…we never record any lessons without permission. Why don’t we dive a little into how I teach? First off, I believe in a customized approach to teaching.  This means that I tailor our lessons to you and your goals.  In our first lesson, we will discuss your goals, access you level, talk about your tastes in music, your learning styles, and your wants and needs.  For younger students, I will also talk with your parents about their goals for you as a music student.  I will then create a custom curriculum based upon your current level and everything we discussed.  I have found that this approach makes happy parents and happy students.  Inside your lesson, you will receive assignments each week that are designed to progressively master skills on your oboe.  This means that I will never assign you something too hard for you to accomplish or so easy that it bores you.  I don’t follow one single method book in our lessons.  I bring in the best materials from multiple books, real life music that is played in orchestras, ballets, operas, pop music, broadway, jazz clubs, and more.  I also write custom exercises for my students to help them learn certain skills or to supplement other assignments.  Finally, we also have activities where I will provide you an audio recording so you can play along with a full band or orchestra and get ensemble playing experience.  We also work on fundamentals like major and minor scales and tonguing and all of the mechanics of getting a great sound, but I always try to make it fun.  Finally, students can bring any homework or concert music from their band class along with audition materials and we will work on those too. At the end of each lesson, I will summarize what we covered in the lesson and what your goals and assignments are for our next lesson.  I will also send detailed lesson notes after each lesson going over your accomplishments and assignments.  This goes to both students and parents.  It helps keep everyone on the same page and able to track your progress.  Private lessons are available in increments of 30 minutes, 45 minutes, or 1 hour.  Well, that is a brief overview of our private lesson program.  Tune in below for information on our group lessons, for sign-up and pricing information, and to see more about me!

Now let's chat about our exciting new Small Group Lessons program!

It’s Nate again and I am so excited to introduce our new Small Group Lesson Program.  Let me tell you a little bit about it.  In our small group lesson program we offer everything that I talked about in the Private Lesson Program video above but we do it in a group of 2, 3, or 4.  This means you get all of the same lesson content and benefits but get to study with friends and save a little money.  Group lessons cost half or less than our normal private lesson price and you also get study partners to work with.  I go over the pricing for our groups of 2, 3, or 4 in the How to Register and Pricing video below, so check it out if you want to see the details, but let’s focus on how they work right now.  We recommend that students take their group lessons with friends from either their school or friends or family from outside school that are approximately at the same level of playing.  In group lessons, students will be working on the same assignments as all of the other members of their group.  The entire group will progress at the same rate each week.  But don’t worry! No one gets left behind or is kept behind.  If one or more students in a group need additional assignments or resources outside of the group lessons, they will be provided those additional materials to clarify anything they may need to move ahead.  All small group students are also eligible to sign up for the office hours I mentioned in the videos above and can get 10 minutes a week with me individually to get help.  You also get all of the same Student Portal and Parent Portal resources including all lesson books and materials, all sheet music, online billing and lesson notes.  With our group program, we have a group chat for each group where you can talk with the other students in your group and get help from your group members.  I also moderate each group to make sure all rules and content are appropriate.  Each week’s lesson is recorded and uploaded to the cloud the evening of your lesson so that any member unable to attend that week can view the lesson.  Only group members have access to your weekly lesson videos and they are available for 30 days after each lesson.  Finally, if you are unable to take private lessons and would like to join a group and don’t know another oboist, we can try to help match you with a group on your level.  If we cannot find you a group immediately, you can have a weekly 15 minute lesson with me and take advantage of the weekly 10 minute office hour time each week for the same price as a group lesson until we can match you with a group.  I find that our group lessons are very effective and fun and are a great option for both students who prefer to study with friends or students you would like to save a little money. Okay everyone, that’s about it on Small Group Lessons.  I have information in the videos below on how to sign up, pricing, and more information about me.

A little bit about us!

Hello again! So I have told you a lot about our two programs and how we reach, but who are we?  Let me tell you a little about myself and my experience as both an educator and performer and then I will introduce you to our studio coordinator, Tony Burgos, who will be your main point of contact outside of lessons.  First off, my name is Nate Burgos.  I have a PhD in Musicology, Masters in Theory, and Bachelors in Performance.  I have been teaching music for about 16 years and have taught students from the age of 4 through college throughout my career.  As a teacher, I specialize in one-on-one and small group teaching.  I have served as a teacher, music director, operations director, and professor in  private schools, studios, and public schools.  I actively work with grade school, college, and adult students.  I also teach seminars training new teachers how to teach in the studio and private music settings.  In addition, I am experienced with working with students with disabilities.  Our studio is a fully inclusive space and all are welcome and safe.  As a teacher, I am qualified to teach beginners through advanced and have taught all levels of the ABRSM curriculum.  As a performer, I have played with symphony orchestras, philharmonic orchestras, ballet orchestras, opera orchestras, theatre orchestras, in a rock band, and as a soloist.  I actively play classical music and jazz music and also work with alternative and experimental music.  I am a studio musician that records for movies and documentaries for several large studios.  Well, now I would like to introduce you to Tony Burgos, our studio coordinator who takes care of scheduling, communications, and is your point of contact for anything outside of lessons.  Say Hi Tony.  Hi.  Well that is about everything I have about me, so if you go to the video below, I will explain the pricing for both our private lessons and small group lessons and how to sign up!

How to Sign-up and Pricing!

Well, you made it through all of our program information with me, so let's talk about pricing and then how to sign up.  Let take about our private lessons first.  Private lessons meet once a week.  We pick a mutually convenient time for our lesson each week and if something comes up, just let me know 24 hours in advance and we will find a convenient time to reschedule that lesson.  We offer 30 minute , 45 minute, and 1 hour lessons.  We recommend 30 minutes for beginners, 45 minutes for intermediate, and 1 hour for advanced students.  Our 30 minute lessons are $25, 45 minute lessons are $35, and 1 hour lessons are $45.  You can choose to increase or decrease your lesson length at any time.  Now let’s talk about the pricing for our Small Group Program.  Lessons are available for groups of 2, 3, or 4.  Groups of 2 are 30 minutes per week and are $13 per student, per week.  Groups of 3 are 45 minutes per week and are $12 per student, per week.  Groups of 4 are 45 minutes per week and are $11 per students, per week.  Makeup lessons are not provided for group lessons are all students are billed weekly whether they attend or not.  All group lessons are recorded and uploaded to the group chat after each lesson and are available for 30 days so you can still learn all of the concepts.  Group lesson attendance is encouraged but not required.  In the event of holidays and closures both private and group lessons are credited.  We bill monthly for all of the lessons for the prior month.  The invoice for the prior month is sent to you by the 10th of each month.  There is a link at the bottom of each email that takes you to PayPal for the payment.  If you have a PayPal account then just click pay.  If you do not have a PayPal account that is okay, you can check out as Guest and use any major credit card or debit card.  You can also log on at any time to check your account status or make a payment.  Again, all materials are included in your weekly lesson fee for both private and group lessons, so there won’t be any surprises.  If you have any questions about our pricing or policies, please email Tony at theoboeacademy@icloud.com .  To go ahead and sign up for lessons so that we can get you scheduled for your first lesson, please click the Sign Up link below or on the New Student Sign-up tab at the top.  We never ask for any credit card info as you pay via PayPal through an invoice.  We only need to get some basic information about both the student and parent and information about desired time and day of your lesson.  It is that simple!  Okay, now that we have talked about how we teach and run our academy, I will play a little for you.  Click the video below to hear a a couple of examples of the different styles of music you can learn.

Let me demonstrate the oboe a little!

Alright, now that you know all about me and my academy, I thought I would play you a couple of excerpts from both the classical and jazz repertoire.  This will give you an idea of how the oboe sounds and you get to see me in action.  I’m going to play a classical piece for you called Schumann Romance No. 1 in the first clip.  It was composed in in December 1849 by German composer Robert Schumann.  In it you will see a great example of the Romantic period of music.  In the second clip, I will be playing Gershwin’s Summertime.  It was composed in 1934 for the opera Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin, but it is famous due to Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong’s jazzy rendition of the more bluesy opera score. It is a great representation of my hometown of New Orleans Jazz Culture. Well, I want to thank everyone for learning about The Oboe Academy and me and listening to me play, and I hope to see you soon in lessons.

What Equipment do I need for Online Lessons?

What do you need to take online lessons?  In most cases, no additional equipment is needed for online lessons.  You will need at minimum a Windows PC, Mac, or ChromeBook with a camera and microphone, or an iPad or Tablet.  We use Zoom which is integrated with our Student Portal.  Any devise that can run Zoom is acceptable.  I will send you information on how to set up your audio settings correctly in each platform to have the best lessons experience. Either a desktop or laptop computer have a little bit better audio/video quality than phone or tablet, but either work just fine.  In most cases, the built in audio is fine on most modern devises.  For increased performance, a usb external mic will provide the best possible audio but is certainly not required.  The only other thing required is a stable internet connection.  Plugging in through an Ethernet cable will provide the strongest connection but WiFi works perfectly in most cases.  All assignments, books, and materials are provided in PDF format.  You can either choose to use them on your devise, import them to a book reader on your tablet or phone, or print them.  For group lessons, we use a private Discord server for each group.  All apps that we use are free for download on all devises. Thanks for watching our technical information video and I hope to see you soon in lessons.