I’m Dan Konefal, composer, arranger, performer, multi-instrumentalist and teacher who’s looking to add students. There's lots of noise online and we all know talk is cheap since supply exceeds demand, so, to demonstrate my abilities, I’ve produced an 18-minute video that shows a lot what I can do. To view it, click on the link in the website box in my profile. My approach goes against the grain as to how music has been taught traditionally and how it continues to be taught. What you'll usually find are enforcers disguised as teachers who insist that "reading" music, doing as you're told, blindly obeying the directions on the printed page is the only way to become a great musician. Your input is never welcomed, what you want might want to play is discouraged and dismissed, oftentimes rudely. If you've had lessons, you know what I'm talking about.
On that same YouTube "Blueprints for Piano" channel, you’ll find several of my original compositions, all solo piano, that I’ll list here: (1) Danimal’s Waltz (2) Coconut Groove (3) South Nova Beach plus my version of Jingle Bells. I teach and play piano, flute, bass guitar, trumpet and saxophone. My mantra is to “Speak first — read later” which mimics how we all learned English. Nobody learns a language out of a book. You interact with native speakers, listen, imitate, pick up idioms, cliches, figures of speech, maybe some slang but you figure it out on the fly and it all works out somehow. If you’re like me, you’ve had teachers who were one-trick ponies, who had only one skill: "read" music, i.e., interpret symbols. Practitioners cede their freedom, their autonomy, many acquire amazing technicals skills but in my opinion, they’re only sophisticated human robots, compromised beings who can only function as programmed. They’re like the horses at the race track wearing blinders, oblivious to the world outside their restricted field of vision. I was a flute major at Duquesne University, a piano minor and played alto sax in one of the jazz ensembles but over time, I realized that piano was my best instrument, so I worked to develop that strength. In the monster video, there are sections of 2 more of my compositions: (4) At First Light and (5) Sundae Punch where I feature myself on trumpet. Piano is the gateway instrument as everything starts there. As with all of my compositions, I experimented, came up with some chords, a melody and decided that it would sound best on trumpet so I taught myself the instrument. It has several elements of the bebop language in contrast to Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” where I show off my classical chops on flute. I’ve cracked the code musically, done the heavy lifting so you don’t have to struggle for years trying to figure it out yourself. That’s why you need a guy like me, to show you how it all works.
Take the 18 minutes to view my video and make a decision whether you want to engage my services based on the information I’ve provided. I live in Ross near the junction of McKnight Road and I-279.
