What Our Students Say

Older Students

“I wanted a vocal coach because I had absolutely no confidence in my singing voice. I do both jazz and voice, but I did only voice for roughly the first year.  Mr. Cole is very good at explaining things, better than most of or all of my teachers at school. This is a feat especially in the context of jazz, which includes very confusing and strange content, or voice, which (since you can’t see or hold it), is hard to describe. He is patient and encouraging as well. At the end of most lessons I ask him unrelated questions, usually about some strange compositional device, and he typically answers it well, completely off the cuff.  The results I’ve seen are day and night, honestly. My singing voice has improved tremendously, and I now sing confidently with my band. My piano skills also shot through the roof from where they were. Before I started lessons, I could only play written music on piano, but now I can improvise confidently while playing improvised basslines or playing chords underneath my solos.”  Harrison H.

“I’ve played piano on and off for over 30 years, but I wasn’t able to comfortably play some more advanced pieces I’ve been interested in. I had also tried a bit of jazz improvisation in the past and wanted to pick that back up in a less daunting manner. Adam gave me many insightful ideas and structure for working through my difficulties in the pieces. He also presented a method for getting started with improvisation that was approachable and fun. I feel I’ve advanced in both of these areas in ways I’ve found very rewarding.”  Melinda W.

“Over the past 30 years I have been listening to music, attending live concerts, and watching my kids play their instruments. When my daughter, age 7, decided she wanted to learn how to play the piano, I decided to join her and take piano lessons myself.  One month and 4 lessons later and Adam has given me the tools to start on my journey!”  Kupe K.

Younger Students

“We started taking lessons with Adam when our son was 6 years old and expressed interest in Piano. We wanted to have him exposed to a classical foundation for music. Adam’s background in music and experience with children helped us feel confident that we made a great choice for our son.   Adam has been very understanding and kind when working with our son. While our son has loved music, he struggles with anxiety and worry, and has had times where he struggled to play – he wanted to, but didn’t know how.  Adam has been kind, patient and flexible the whole time has he worked with him, and always encouraged him while letting him set his own pace.  Our son has been taking lessons with Adam for almost 3 years, and has progressed well. I appreciated that while our son was able to read music easily, Adam didn’t let him skip ahead of where he needed to be, and methodically helped him learn the basics. He is getting better and better every week, and continues to choose to practice. We look forward to seeing where their journey together will go.”  Avery Y.

“My child is now near the end of his fourth year in piano lessons, and the end of his third year with Adam. He continues to make a lot of progress and now is much more self-disciplined about his practice than he was when he was younger. I think Adam’s added instruction in blues and jazz is especially helpful as a counterbalance to the standard training on an instrument. I believe my child, who is a perfectionist by nature, will highly benefit from the introduction to music improvisation and early music writing. Also, the ability to play blues and jazz will also give them a wider training appropriate for popular music in addition to classical piano.”  Jenny G.

“When my daughter Kayden was in kindergarten, I wanted her to take piano lessons. I was referred to Adam by Kayden’s music teacher at Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School. Almost six years later and Kayden continues to learn and grow as a pianist. I am pleased with Adam’s professionalism and the confidence that Kayden has gained from his consistent encouragement.”  April K.

“Charlie is having such a fun time learning piano with Adam. In the first 8 weeks of lessons he’s already learned the notes on the keyboard, the different musical notes, and he’s learning to play the C-scale two octaves. I learned piano through rote memorization of notes, which served its purpose, but I was not taught how to write my own songs or to play the blues, which is something Charlie is learning to do at each lesson. I’m grateful that we found Willow Music, and I hope that Charlie will be able to continue his lessons for a long time to come.”   Kim M.

“This is the second semester I have been taking voice lessons with Ms. Shannon, and I love working with her! She is very nice and is always smiling and happy to see me at every lesson. She has a lot of energy and positivity! She pays attention to what types of songs I like and picks ones I would like to work on.  I really like how she helps me understand how songs are supposed to be sung. Since I’ve been working with her, I know that I can sing much better than I used to.”  Phoebe R.

“We feel blessed to have found The Willow School. We searched many music schools and music instructors for over nine months to find a “good fit” for our five-year old son to start his musical journey with piano. Our son has naturally gravitated to piano since he was 2, but we wanted him to learn music theory and not just the instrument. From the first lesson, we were impressed with the method that Mr. Cole takes with our son. His technique reveals that he takes the learner into consideration and adjusts instruction according to the student’s need and ability. So far, we have seen our son challenged in an effort to increase his skill level and he recognizes technique when he listens to live music. He is slowly but surely understanding that there is a method to playing the instrument. We look forward to seeing his growth as he continues to work with Mr. Cole.”  Regene and Randolph M.

“Our family came to Willow Music because our daughters expressed interests in playing the piano and guitar.  From our first open house the artist instructors at Willow Music have made our girls feel welcome and excited about learning to play their instruments!  Because of their instructors’ time, attention, skillful teaching, and positive reinforcement our girls are not only growing in their abilities but remain engaged and excited to learn more!  Thank you Mr. Adam and Mr. Josh!”  Shalanda M.