“At the heart of my teaching is creativity. I’ve seen so many great players lose their way when they stop being creative. Whether that means writing your own music, studying an area of music that’s new to you, or learning to improvise and create spontaneously, creativity is vital to practice. Students in my studio are creative, expressive musicians. ”
— Justin Alexander

Where I teach

Core teaching values

  • Community

  • Creativity, Improvisation, and Exploration

  • Diverse skill sets

  • Global music traditions

Why study music?

Although it involves a lot of time in the practice room, studying music isn’t really a solo effort. Teachers, students, listeners, audiences all play an important role. That’s why community is so important to me in my teaching. In the Indian tradition, students of the same teacher are known as guru-bhais - “teacher-students”. The idea is that we can all learn from each other, help each other, and support each other. Developing a students humanity through studying music is the most important aspect of my job.

In terms of playing, I’m a firm believer in exploring as many areas of percussion as possible. It’s all music, and it all makes for better musicians. Additionally, contemporary performance opportunities demand versatility - not only on the range of instruments required for professional performance, but also in composition and improvisation. It can seem overwhelming at first, but the best part is that all of these areas can work together to make you a better percussionist and musician. At the heart of my teaching is creativity. I’ve seen so many great players lose their way when they stop being creative. Whether that’s writing your own music, studying an area of music that’s new to you, or learning to improvise and create spontaneously, creativity is vital to practice. Students in my studio are creative, expressive musicians.

“Working with Justin is hands down the best educational experience I’ve had. I actually feel prepared to move into the professional field as a music educator.’

“Working with Dr. Alexander in one-on-one lessons greatly helped me improve my time and sense of rhythm. I feel more confident in my approach to rhythm, improvising, and soloing, and have begun to adapt the Indian rhythmic system to my own compositional process.”

“Whether it’s working on solo percussion, drum set, orchestral playing, or advanced rhythmic concepts, Dr. Alexander approaches each student as an individual. I have grown so much in my time working with him because he meets the student where they are!”