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In-Home Music Lessons

 

My name is Duncan McCartney, I’ve been a private music teacher full-time since 2014, and I’m offering private in-home lessons in Calgary. I teach Piano, Guitar, Bass, Woodwinds, and Music Theory for any age, any level and any style of music. I hold a Bachelor of Music from Vancouver Island University and a Music Performance Diploma from Mount Royal University, and I have over 15 years experience as a busy professional musician.

 

I’m also currently offering a free trial lesson/consultation to anyone interested, as well as a free bundle of educational resources including a handy reusable weekly practise schedule.

 

Rates:

 

  • $60 per hour-long lesson

  • $50 per 45 minute lesson

  • $40 per 30 minute lesson

 

Billed monthly through the My Music Staff service. Weekly lessons at a regular time work best, but I always try to be as flexible as possible with scheduling as I know things get busy!

 

About My Method

 

Between my time at University, my 10 years of private lessons following the Conservatory Canada piano curriculum, and years involved in excellent school music programs, I’ve had dozens of incredible teachers in my life and I’ve taken all their lessons to heart. But my greatest teacher has been over 20,000 hours of real-world teaching experience with all ages, all levels of experience, and multiple instruments playing many styles of music. Dealing with all that at once, my style revolves around efficiency, simplicity, and direct learning. 

 

I’m also very interested in the science of how we learn and how the brain works. Books like The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle, Peak by Anders Ericsson, Ultralearning by Scott Young, and Bounce by Matthew Syed have had a profound influence on how I approach teaching.

 

Lessons are always tailored to each students’ goals, needs, and style. I have taught literally thousands of people and no two have ever been remotely the same. 

 

4 Pillars of Musicianship

 

  • Technique:

 

This is the physical aspect, the mechanics of playing your instrument, and the processes you’ll develop in order to learn fast and constantly improve. I always try to keep things Project-Based: Everything we do will revolve around learning the things you want to learn and doing it as efficiently as possible. Today’s world of Youtube tutorials and endless quick-fixes has given rise to a lot of “Advanced Beginners”: Students who collect vast amounts of knowledge, tricks, and theory but who lack the skill or the processes to develop their skill. We won’t be like that, we are going to have our knowledge balanced with applicable real-world skills.

 

  • Theory:

 

And on that note, I’m really not your Grandpa’s theory teacher. I teach music theory in the way that I use it every day: Simple, straightforward, and easily applicable to your goals. One thing I try to impart is focusing as little on rote memorization as possible; instead I try to build a firm understanding of the important core concepts that will help you.

 

  • Ear Training:

 

If you can clearly hear in your head what you want to do, you’ll get it. This is an area of music education that gets left behind but for me, it’s crucial. This is also an area where I’m trying to improve my own teaching. I don’t want you learning ear training the way I did, floundering around with no clear plan, occasionally working on some old classical exercises that have little to do with how the skill really works. I’m still getting there, but I can guarantee you’ll have an easier time with this than I did!

 

  • The Mental Game:

 

 An incredibly important part of learning a difficult and time-consuming skill like this is how to get yourself through the inevitable challenges that will arise. I try to share the things that have worked, and changes I’ve made in my own thinking that have been  a big help. Building these skills helps with more than just learning an instrument, these are things you will be able to use your entire life.

 

Contact Me

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I'm excited to hear from you and to start our music journey, please use any of the following methods to contact me and I'll be happy to answer any and all questions you may have!​

 

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