Jose Alonso
Jose is a guitarist, and saxophonist originally from New York City. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, he has worn many hats throughout his career as a teacher and a musician.
As a young child, Jose developed an early appreciation for the classic rock music that his father would listen to all the time. An appreciation that has since expanded to include many of the genres that are popular today, such as rock, pop, country, jazz, latin, and even the occasional show tune. This appreciation would lead to a deep desire to play the guitar, though the first instrument he picked up wound up being something completely different.
Jose picked up his first instrument, the saxophone at 10 years old and wouldn’t actually get his first guitar until he was 15 years old. Once he did, he could not put music down. He continued playing and studying all throughout high school and at Hunter College, exploring the many different facets and genres of music that college and New York City would allow him to explore. Eventually, Jose would graduate from Hunter College with a Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance in 2013.
Since then, Jose has performed across many different genres and in many different environments. Jose has been a part of rock bands, jazz ensembles and small combos, big bands, cover bands and has also performed for promotional events across the metro area. He also regularly plays guitar for music classes in NYC geared towards building musical appreciation and motor skills in very young children, some as young as 2 months old. Jose also wrote, arranged and produced music during his time in a rock band and has a deep desire to dive back into songwriting and production one day.
It is this passion and appreciation that carries over into Jose’s work and approach as a teacher. Jose knows firsthand just how important it is for students to have a teacher that is understanding, flexible and can push them to grow and become the best musician and person they can be.
At the same time, Jose also understands that every student’s goals can vary greatly and he prides himself on his ability to adapt to every student’s needs, ensuring that every student feels comfortable and has an environment in which they can grow either at their own pace, or at a pace that excites and accelerates them.
Whether it’s a very young child learning their first instrument or a parent discovering or rediscovering a musical instrument, Jose is eager and ready to help with lesson plans and curriculums that pull from many different facets of music education, but also reference students’ favorite music to create an experience that is unique to them and their tastes.
“I understand that my objective as a teacher is to ensure that every student has a solid foundation of music theory, technique and fundamentals to help get them started on their musical journey. However, I also understand that I need to ensure every student continues to have the same honest excitement they had before they actually began their journey. It is this eagerness that I intend to nurture in the hopes that students may always find enjoyment and excitement in their music lessons so that it may live on, and spread to other facets of their lives.”