Kipp Kahlia Music Instruction

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About

I work with students aged 12 and up, giving them the kind of foundation that allows them to play and sing the styles of music they love. I've worked with nearly 700 people so far and taught private students and classes for over a decade. I've worked for years to develop a method that gives people the solid foundation they need to sing and play well in any style, and results are guaranteed. I also really enjoy teaching intermediate guitarists, bassists and vocalists what they need to know to get past being "stuck." I remember clearly how frustrating it felt to be in that place. I really didn't understand that I needed new information, broken down in a way that allowed me to absorb it and use it. Instead, I wondered if maybe I was a little "slow." Once I absorbed the information I needed, my playing took off. I want to do that for you. I can give you the keys to the kingdom. You have to put in the practice time -- making music has its mechanical aspects, just like sports, and your nervous system learns by repetition. Your body has to have practice time to progress. Give me 15 minutes of practice 6 days a week, and I can get you where you want to go. Give me more practice time per day, and I can get you there FASTER. The pace of your growth is connected to how much time you want to put into it. I will give you the tools. If a student wants to play AND sing, I have a lot of tips that will help them to do that more easily. There are strategies that can be used to speed up that learning process. We can work in person if you're local, or via Skype. Some people wonder if lessons via Skype are less effective than lessons in person, but I've gotten great results with it. My favorite thing is showing people how to make great music with other people. I'm thrilled when my students get to the point where they're excited to play or sing at a jam session. If students are ready to play or sing in bands, I prepare them to go to a rehearsal with a new group of musicians knowing they have something to contribute, and unafraid that the rest of the band will have to wait for them while they figure out what's going on. They can jump in with confidence and really ENJOY playing and/or singing.

Overview

Hired 2 times

26 years in business

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Services offered

Music types

Band

Vocals

Guitar

Piano

Event type

Wedding reception

Wedding ceremony

Birthday party

Cocktail hour

Music genres

Pop / top 40

Rock / classic rock

Jazz / Blues

Mariachi

Projects and media

Reviews

Exceptional 5.0

11 reviews

100%

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Victor A.

Jan 13, 2016

I was in love with reggae music. I finally decided that I wanted to play it. I had seen Kipp as a guest musician playing at a festival called Doheney Days, with a prominent international reggae band called Third World. She rocked it. Sometimes I played bass for my lessons, and sometimes guitar. She taught me how to recognize chords and bass lines by listening to a song, and to know when they changed. She was always on me about groove my playing had to sit "in the pocket"! I like that she kept me focused on what I needed to do to be a real musician.

Jack D.

Jan 11, 2016

My daughter is a professional singer with her own band, and also works as part of a duo. She started asking me at some point to come and play with her band sometimes, and I decided I'd better take some lessons because I felt utterly unprepared. And I WANT to play some gigs with her. Years before, I had taken a guitar class with the Parks and Recreation Department of Long Beach, and Kipp was the instructor. I liked how she used humor to keep us entertained while she crammed a ton of information into our heads and drilled us on playing technique. I learned so much from her in the five short weeks of that session that when I thought about taking private lessons, she immediately came to mind. I was able to track her down, and she's been putting me through my paces. At first, she had me focusing on playing chords and learning standard chord progressions in different keys. She's often asked me to write out chord charts for different pieces of music so I'm comfortable with reading charts. She wants me to be so familiar with those kinds of common progressions that when I play with my daughter's band, I' be able to handle anything they throw at me. We've also worked on rhythm and groove so I can easily complement whatever the other musicians are playing, and actually ADD something musical to the songs. Now she's started to drill me on scales and melodies. She made me play a solo last week, saying: "This is where it begins -- might as well get started!" I've gone way farther with Kipp's guidance than I would have ever gone on my own.

Victor A.

Sep 3, 2016

I was in love with reggae music. I finally decided that I wanted to play it. I had seen Kipp as a guest musician playing at a festival called Doheney Days, with a prominent international reggae band called Third World. She rocked it. Sometimes I played bass for my lessons, and sometimes guitar. She taught me how to recognize chords and bass lines by listening to a song, and to know when they changed. She was always on me about groove –– my playing had to sit "in the pocket"! I like that she kept me focused on what I needed to do to be a real musician.

Pen Y.

Jan 11, 2016

Christmas day 2013, my husband built a bass for me. One that was my size with a smaller diameter neck. I looked at him and asked, what do you want me to do with that?. He said you are going to learn how to play the bass so you can play worship with the family. It was a very daunting challenge, but I liked the idea of playing music with the family. My husband Craig is a worship leader at church, he plays the guitar and the bass. My son Matthew plays the bass and the guitar. My daughter Megan sings, plays the keyboards and can play some guitar. I would be the newbie joining the group. My husband taught me how to play the bass. He showed me the proper way of playing the bass strings but I had other ideas. I was comfortable with just playing with 1 finger. We got into disagreements over that but he let me go because he did not want to argue with his wife. Craig was a trooper and was able to teach me enough basics that within 6 months we were playing for the elderly in the Senior Homes once a month. By the spring the following year 2014, he asked the pastor if he could add me to the worship team. I was able to provide simple bass line to the music and I had to admit it was fun. I wanted to progress more but I did not want to strain my relationship with Craig. I always pushed back and I wanted to do things my way and often we did not have a good experience. Craig was always proud of me and was always tickled pink whenever we played together. So that fall 2014, I asked to have a bass teacher, he was relieved and went into the business of finding me a bass teacher, a female bass teacher that I can relate to. That was when I met Kipp Kahlia. She is a bonafide professional musician, studied and majored in music. I just wanted to get that out of the way, because on top of that, she is a very nice person. My first lesson was at her house. It was 7:30 pm and I was super nervous. I told her that I needed a teacher because I wanted to get better than just doing thump, thump, thump, thump when we play worship on Sunday. I wanted to grow without harming my relationship with Craig. We got along famously from the beginning. I liked how she was so easygoing and was understanding of my bad habits. She was understanding but that didnt mean she would tolerate it. She started me from the beginning. Basics like, hooking up to the amp, tuning the bass, and strumming. She assured me that over time the hand just adapts to the new programming that I send to the nervous system and the strumming will eventually remodel. Yes, remodel, even with a stubborn person like me. That was November of 2014 and I am writing this April 2015 and I have improved my strumming a lot. Inadvertently, when she is introducing me to something new, the claw or the hook (as I call it) comes out but she is quick to point out the hook and I am back to strumming the right way again. She teaches me how to be creative with the rhythms, shes teaching me the roots and 5ths of chords, where they are on the neck, and how you can use the different notes of the scale to enhance the song. She addresses that because she knows my goal is to do more than thump, thump, thump, and just hold down whole notes. She is very encouraging and she has a sense of humor. We laugh a lot when I am there for my class, the studio people come in sometimes and tell us there is too much laughing coming from our room. Sometimes I bring up questions I may encounter in the week and she will take the time to answer it. One time I asked her What do you think of the lawsuit against Pharrell Williams for copyright infringement on the Marvin Gaye song Got to Give it Up? We would stop and talk about that. Sometimes, I feel not as prepared coming to class because I might not have the homework as complete as I would like it to be and Kipp tells me that she understands that I am a working woman, with a family and that I have stuff to do. I feel that takes the pressure off. But on the days when I AM confident about my homework, then the fun begins, she start throwing in stuff to keep me on my toes and push me out of my comfort zone. I have to have my deodorant on because something unexpected is always thrown in. I always have a good time. My husband always asks me how was class, I always say great!. I never miss my class and I always leave feeling I have made strides in my goal to learn more about playing the bass. If Kipp were to move studios or if she needed to change my lesson time, I would make whatever changes were necessary to keep my lessons going. Craig even said, Where do I have to drive you, hon? Anywhere you need to go, LOL! It does make a difference the relationship and rapport you have with your teacher. You can be in a perfect studio, you can have a top of the line bass and equipment, but its the teacher, the teacher can either make you feel so nervous that you dont learn anything, or s/he can make it so unpleasant that you dont want to come back. Its a make or break kind of thing for any student.

Colin W.

Jan 16, 2016

I originally wanted to buy a kazoo. When I went into The Horn Guys in Lakewood, CA (they sell brass instruments), I discovered that Kipp Kahlia was teaching guitar and vocals there. I decided to sign up for some lessons. Im a singer and a songwriter, and I wanted to improve my vocals, grow as a songwriter, and become more versatile on the guitar. Kipp worked with me on all fronts. As a songwriter, Im more aware of rhyme schemes that work without being cheesy. Im also way more deliberate about creating my melodies, and making them hold together better. And I write phrases that are rhythmically compatible. As a singer, Kipp called me out on enunciation -- she said it was frustrating to hear only parts of the stories I was telling. My words were being lost because I wasnt singing them clearly enough for them to be understood. She also worked with me on learning to support my notes with solid breathing technique. We worked on tightening up my pitch -- I notice it faster now when I sing a little off-key, so I can fix it faster. And we worked on my range. Now, when I sing high notes, theyre strong and solid instead of being kind of hesitant like they were before. As a guitarist, I can happily say that I can now play in any key I want to. We worked through bar chords and how to use them, and have started working on jazz chords. Kipp also showed me some ways to come up with different strumming patterns so that my songs all sound different rhythmically. Since Im a solo performer, that was really important. I cant rely on a different drum parts or bass parts to make my songs have musical variety. Ive improved a lot as a musician under Kipps guidance.

FAQs

What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?
My pricing is $35 per 30-minute lesson, $50 per 45 minute lesson, and 70 per 1-hour lesson. Independent contractors like myself pay taxes, social security, medical, dental, sick, vacation & personal days and workmen's compensation out of what we earn. That's reflected in our pricing.
What is your typical process for working with a new customer?
The first thing I do with a new student is find out what their goals are. Then I ask a few questions and ask them to show me things that let me know what their current ability level is. I know what to look for, so I can figure it out quickly. Then I do some teaching, and pay attention to how they respond so that I can see how they LEARN. Some students are visual learners, some need detailed technical instructions, some respond to descriptions that relate more to feelings than intellectual concepts. I cater people's lessons to them as unique individuals. As soon as possible, I ask them to bring in a song they want to work on, and I use that song as a way of teaching them the important stuff. Most songs have much more in common than people realize, and they can be used to provide a student with a basic musical foundation.
What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
I earned my living exclusively for nearly 20 years as a freelance lead and rhythm guitarist -- either you're good at your job or you starve! I eventually decided I wanted to spend less time on the road and work on my recording projects, so I started teaching. Along with giving private lessons for over a decade, I taught beginning and intermediate guitar classes for the cities of Long Beach and Lakewood, CA as part of their parks and recreation departments. I developed those courses myself, and put together my own handouts to make progress easier and more straightforward for those classes and my private students. People from my classes frequently said, "I learned more from you in 6 weeks than I did in a year with my last teacher!" I also attended the Guitar Institute of Technology at Musicians Institute in Hollywood -- it is a highly-rated and highly-intensive one-year course in guitar, guitar, and more guitar. It was 5 days a week, 5 hours per day, MINIMUM. My own teaching style has partly evolved from what I learned about teaching from the excellent instructors at that school. They were incredible.

Kipp Kahlia Music Instruction

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