Yuma Uesaka
Yuma Uesaka

Yuma Uesaka

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Introduction: I am a New York based jazz saxophonist with bachelor's degree in jazz studies from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. I enjoy showing students the joy of music making, especially the art of improvisation. Throughout my career, I've performed in various bands across various genres including, classical, modern/straight ahead jazz, funk, hip-hop, and traditional jazz. Because of my conservatory training, I am very comfortable discussing the theoretical aspect of music. At the same time, I have my training in jazz that comes from an aural tradition, so I am also able to guide the student to learn material by ear.
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1 employee

16 years in business

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Reviews
5.0

4 reviews

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Andrew S.
Oct 9, 2015
I was lucky to get a lesson on Jazz Improvisation from Yuma while he was still at Google. This was extremely useful and equally interesting. Yuma is surely a very talented musician, but what stands him out is his willingness to share the knowledge and ability to both theorize the skill he is teaching and offer fun and practical exercises that allow the student internalize it. What I especially liked is how Yuma tailored the lesson specifically to my situation, taking care of first finding out what exactly I wanted to learn, and then working on developing this particular skill set. I also enjoyed how Yuma illustrated each concept with a snippet from a jazz standard or a popular song and gave pointers to jazz musicians who exhibited the same thing in their music - a good homework of listening and analysis. In short, I'd highly recommend Yuma as an all-around music teacher. Or just come jam with him :)
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David A.
Oct 10, 2015
I had the privilege of working with Yuma in the summer of 2014. We decided that we would exchange lessons; I would teach him drum set fundamentals and he would teach me jazz theory. I showed him some basic rudiments, and basic grooves from the jazz and rock idiom. He helped me get a jumpstart on theory by teaching basic jazz chord voicings and the ii-V-I chord progression, and challenging me to take it on 12 keys. This was essential because it helped me stay current with my jazz piano and jazz theory class that I took that following fall semester! And at times after we exchanged instruments, we just had a jam session with him on tenor sax and me on drums. Not only is he a fantastic teacher...he's an awesome musician as well!
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Adam R.
Oct 6, 2015
Wow - Yuma is knowledgable, talented, patient, and kind. Super approachable method of teaching and really has a handle on level-setting. I came in an experienced drummer looking to segue into jazz session playing and theory - certainly a challenging combination of experience and inexperience. Yuma handled it really well, ramping rapidly, and smoothly up to my level and then pushing out at the topics I was interested in exploring. Really checks all the boxes. Had the musicianship down, the scene down, and the feel down. Would recommend to anyone.
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Gabriel A.
Oct 14, 2015
Yuma is a very good Saxophone player!!! I have jammed with him a few times and each time i have heard him come up with some amazing tunes off the saxophone. He is very good at improvising and very familiar with Jazz music. Also, his album is fun to listen to if you are into jazz. -Gabriel