Lena at Sky Music is just amazing. Her energy, vast musical knowledge, and love for teaching are attributes that make her an effective instructor. My son Bui has been taking voice and piano lessons for 2 years now, started in-person, then, continued virtually. Lena is a warm, jolly, engaging, and most importantly, very patient teacher. She caters the lessons to match my son's current song interest. As the student's parent, listening to my son continuously practice his favorite songs is the best part of the week for me.
Lena is PHENOMENAL! I've been taking lessons with her for 1.5 years and still going! Though she has chapters of curriculum to follow, she tailors her curriculum for each student so that they learn at their own pace, and she doesn't always go in order by chapter either! She gives you what you need when you are ready for it.
Her experience as a teacher, guitarist, singer/songwriter, and performer all come into play during her lessons (at least, for me anyway!). As a new singer/songwriter myself, she not only teaches me guitar at a pace that matches my own, but also provides guidance on vocals, setlist creation, and live or studio performance tips. And she has a seasonal Live Showcase Performance at a local music venue for any of her students that are interested in gaining live performance experience.
Lena is honest and encouraging all at once... which is a hard balance to maintain. I highly respect her as a mentor and musician. If not for her, I never would have discovered my ability to become a singer/songwriter and release my first EP!
Bottom line: if you can get on her lesson roster... DON'T WAIT!
I started taking guitar lessons with Lena a little over a year ago. I had no prior experience. Though Lena would never say it, I’m probably any music teacher's nightmare. I don’t practice enough, I’m not able to keep a consistent schedule, and, every once in a while, I’ll carry my guitar around without a case!
Here are some things about Lena that are evident to me after working with her for nearly a year.
1) She’s a really patient and friendly teacher / person. This matters, especially for someone like me who is committed to learning but also can’t always get in the practice time daily. She helps me progress at my own pace, and when I come for lessons, it’s ‘So what have you been working on?’ rather than ‘Why don’t you know this by now?’
2) She tailors the learning experience to the your musical tastes. Her technical knowledge is very strong, and she knows how to teach the fundamentals through songs that you like. This was huge for me — I was always more motivated to practice harder on music I liked.
3) She’s passionate about music and is really involved with the local scene. She organizes charitable events, open mic nights, music showcases. So working with her immediately plugs you in with the local scene if that’s your interest.
I really enjoyed working with Lena.
The best! Her curriculum and teaching style is excellent, and you can tell she tailors her lessons to the particular student. As someone starting acoustic guitar in their mid-twenties, I wasn't sure what to expect going into lessons at a late age. But Lena was open and welcoming! She is also patient and so encouraging! She always makes me feel like I'm making progress no matter how small the improvement is.
My girls have been getting voice lessons from Lena for about 6 months now, and it has been a wonderful experience. Lena is energetic, creative, and fun, and my girls have a great time singing, learning, and trying new things. This has been such a great creative outlet for them! We highly recommend Sky Music!
My 11 year old daughter has been taking voice lessons with Ms. Lena this year and loves it!! Ms. Lena is the perfect teacher for her. She listens to her students and really enhances their particular gifts. My daughter has enjoyed taking voice lessons so much that she has recently doubled her instruction time adding guitar to her lessons. We LOVE Ms. Lena and recommend her to anyone looking for music instruction!
I can't say enough about Sky Music. My daughter has been taking both voice and guitar lessons with Lena for well over a year. She looks forward to each and every class. Lena is enthusiastic and encouraging. My daughter tends to be on the shy side and Lena has even given her the skills and courage to perform in a couple of the shows that Sky Music hosted. My daughter adores Lena and says one of her favorite part about the lessons is that she gets to choose the songs and artists that she's interested in to sing and play. Highly recommended!
My daughter has been taking guitar lessons at Sky Music for over a year and loves every minute! It's been the first time in her 12 years that I haven't had to drag her to an activity. She enjoys it so much that we recently added voice lessons! Thank you Mrs. Lena for all you do!
It's really a great experience. If you work with her on something for an audition, she won't drop it the next class you have with her, and she actually cares if you make it or not ( not like other people I have seen before). Sky Music Instructions opens up a variety of opportunities for their students.
Lena is a wonderful instructor both technically and atmospherically. Her personality is welcoming and positive, and she is always supportive of your goals and where you want to go in terms of your lessons. If you find yourself struggling with a concept she will go through it with you step by step or find alternate ways to help you understand. I've had many instructors over the years and Lena has made me feel the most motivated to continue music and encouraged me to keep practicing!
Lena is the best voice teacher I've had, and I can't say enough positive things about her! She explains things in an easy-to-understand way, and if you don't understand it one way, she will explain it a different way. She takes the time to make sure you are singing properly and not straining your voice, and she teaches you how to take care of your voice like you would an instrument. The curriculum is also very straightforward and easy to understand - it teaches you the theory and history you need to know to be a well-rounded musician. Again, I highly recommend Lena as a music teacher!
Our daughters, ages 15 and 9, have been with Sky Music Instruction since November 2014. In less than six months with Lena, my husband and I have seen a huge improvement in their abilities to play the guitar. Lena is very patient, highly motivated, and is great at encouraging our daughters to learn at their own pace. Both our girls have had previous guitar lessons with numerous instructors, however; none of those instructors have impacted them as much as Lena has, and continues to do. We highly recommend anyone at whatever level of playing you are at, to give Sky Music Instruction a try. Lena is wonderful to work with, and makes playing the guitar FUN!
Lena is a fantastic instructor, and a really laid back and fun person! I took singing lessons with her for about a year. She taught fundamentals of music (reading/writing) and music theory as well. She had tons of great advice and techniques for keeping your voice in working order, getting comfortable with performing, and taught me great vocal exercises to practice daily. I have always had trouble with feeling comfortable enough to sing in front of others, but Lena was always patient and encouraging and helped me get over some of my fear.
Lena has been teaching our daughter guitar for eight months now and the quality of instruction has been fantastic. She is patient, skilled and knowledgeable, and our daughter is doing quite well, and looks forward to coming to lesson. The lessons have been a good balance of fun and interesting while also challenging and pushing our daughter's skills to grow steadily.
I’m an absolute beginner with guitar playing and musical theory. I've been learning guitar playing with Lena for about 2 months and plus now. Lena has been a wonderful instructor for me. Her teaching materials are very organized and systematic, which is essential for a beginner like me. Her patience and very encouraging words along the way helped me become more confident as I practiced from when I couldn’t even play a cord to being able to play 10+ chords smoothly. She also lets me choose a list of songs I’d love to learn to 1) help me learn how to play my favorite songs; 2) practice the chords she teaches me. This makes my practices much more enjoyable as I love the songs I’m practicing. I’m also learning from her a bit about musical theory and song writing in the meantime. In addition to the teaching part itself, she’s also very flexible with scheduling. I was able to reschedule several times because some unexpected events came up. With a very reasonable price, what else could you ask for from a guitar instructor?