Our Teachers
Kelsey Szefler (she/her)
Vocals, Piano, Beginner Guitar, Songwriting
In-home: Maple Leaf, Greenwood
Hi, I’m Kelsey Szefler! Whether you’re prepping for an audition, building a solid foundation of technique and structure, working on karaoke night confidence, or using music as a self-care practice, I’d love to help guide you! I specialize in songwriting, musical theatre, folk & pop genres, and learning the basics in a completely judgment-free space. My philosophy is that there’s no embarrassment in making mistakes or being silly in the name of learning & exploring.
I’m an indie folk singer-songwriter based in north Seattle. I’ve been teaching music lessons since summer 2021. I got my start in choir & musical theatre, both of which I started as a kid and continued through college. I’ve been in over a dozen musicals & plays, and I found my love for performing in those spaces. In college I studied vocal pedagogy, music theory, piano, and music appreciation across genres and decades. Nowadays, I’m a gigging musician playing my solo music, and I’m also in a 5-piece alt-rock band called Clean Fight.
Some of my favorite artists include Elliott Smith, Tegan & Sara, MUNA, Adrianne Lenker, Joni Mitchell, and many local Seattle artists including Lilly Miller, Lady Queen Paradise, St. Yuma, Great Grandpa, & many more.
Carrie Phillips (they/them)
Guitar, Vocals, Beginner Piano, Ukulele, Songwriting
In-home: Madison Park, Capitol Hill, Queen Anne
Carrie Phillips is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who helps students build a joyful relationship with music from day one! Carrie aims to get students jamming on their favorite songs as quickly as possible, recognizing that passion for the material drives musical discovery. They also prioritize empowering students with tools for playing with others! This not only builds student’s confidence, but also strengthens a constellation of musical skills such as ear training, music theory, rhythmic timing, and more!
Carrie’s musical background includes years of performance as a soloist and in bands. They also earned their B.A. in music and culture studies from Washington University in St. Louis and has been a guitar student for over a decade.
Outside of teaching, Carrie can be found performing under the stage name “Dog Mom,” their indie folk project. They also enjoy photographing live shows, and going on scenic walks with their dog Finn. Their favorite artists include Big Thief, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Men I Trust, and Fleetwood Mac.
Heavenly Bodies - April 16th, 2023
Ash Tweet (he/him)
Vocals, Piano, Guitar, Ukulele, Songwriting
In-home: Queen Anne, Ballard, East Side. In-Studio: Capitol Hill
Ash Tweet is a musician local to the Seattle area who teaches Piano, Voice, and Guitar lessons. With over 12 years of experience, he has a history of performing in a wide variety of musical settings from a young age, including jazz combos, choral music, as well as folk and rock bands. He has been a music teacher since 2021, and graduated from Cornish College of the Arts in 2023 with a Bachelor of Music. Ash believes in focusing on student interests and allowing their individual goals to guide how they learn about music, while balancing structure and consistently challenging the student to grow. He is passionate about music theory and songwriting, as well as audio technology setup and electronics. If there's ever a new topic to explore, Ash is excited to learn about it with you.
Ash is currently working on expanding his songwriting ability with Guitar, and performs around the Seattle area. Beyond musical interest, Ash enjoys various forms of art, and most recently has been learning to make chainmail jewelry.
Current Favorite Artists: Björk, Jeff Buckley, Field Medic, Arca
Jeanie Cookston (she/her)
Vocals, Piano, Songwriting, Music Production
In-home and In-Studio: Capitol Hill.
Jeanie started her musical journey taking piano lessons at a young age. After years of lessons, she moved on to a children’s choir in ninth grade, then an upper-level jazz choir within the same organization two years later, and eventually decided to pursue a music degree at Cornish College of the Arts. While at Cornish she studied under (Grammy winner) Johnaye Kendrick where she learned the ins and outs of jazz harmony and vocal improvisation, and fine-tuned her compositional voice and practice. She focused her studies on pop music production, and vocal techniques from a diaspora of genres. After releasing her self-produced debut album in May of 2022 - under the stage name “Jeanie Baby” - she started teaching piano and voice lessons.
She believes that the best way to approach music teaching is with compassion, compromise, and active engagement with what the student likes. Typically, she spends the first half of a lesson working through a book, curriculum, or warm-up, and the second half learning songs or skills and songs that the student is interested in. Her favorite areas to teach are composition, improvisation, and accompaniment through chords.
Jeanie's current inspirations include Ariana Grande, Dolly Parton, Lady Gaga, and Sarah Vaughan.
Mitch Etter (he/him)
Guitar, Ukulele, Bass, Mandolin
In-studio: Matthew’s Beach, In-home: N Seattle, Online
Hi! My name is Mitch Etter. I’m a guitarist, songwriter, and record producer in the Seattle band Hi Crime. I am a self-taught musician with over 15 years of experience playing electric & acoustic guitar, ukulele, bass, and mandolin.
I started guitar in middle school by learning how to play all the songs I loved at the time. For me, that was lots of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd. I quickly blossomed on the instrument, spending several hours a day playing guitar. By learning these songs, and approaching guitar with a practical hands-on approach, I began to understand music theory and the technical aspects of music that I had struggled with in school.
The lessons I teach reflect the lessons I would have liked to take when starting out; they’re centered on playing the music you love and making music fun! We'll begin by exploring what inspires you as a musician, and working to take you where you want to go! With my guidance, you’ll quickly begin to notice patterns and understand essential music theory through learning your favorite songs. From there, you can apply that knowledge to new levels of playing, improvisation, songwriting, and many aspects of music production.
Reach out to say hi, and book your first guitar, ukulele, bass or mandolin lesson with me!
My favorites artists include: The Beatles, Animal Collective, David Bowie, Alvvays, John Frusciante, Gorillaz, Blur, Tame Impala, Radiohead, Talking Heads, Kurt Vile, Neil Young, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Electric Light Orchestra, Fleet Foxes, Father John Misty, MGMT, and many more.
Nimm Lefcourt (they/them)
Vocals, Beginner Piano
Online, In-Studio: Capitol Hill
Nimm is a classical vocalist who graduated from Cornish College of The Arts in 2021. They are offering lessons for vocalists of any type, and piano lessons for beginners. They are very passionate about helping aspiring musicians who have difficulty understanding music when taught in a traditional way, and have had quite a bit of success in working with students that have learning differences. Nimm tends to focus their teaching style on healthy technique and good practice habits, as they believe that these aspects are the basis for any good musician. They will also always suggest working through music theory in lessons, but are willing to respect the wishes of vocal students that don't wish to work on music theory. Nimm will always endeavor to set their students up with a good warmup routine, a basic understanding of vocal technique & anatomy, and a helpful amount of encouragement!
Nimm is currently working on scoring a soundtrack for their own text-based adventure game called The Secrets of Wisteria Village. The entire game is being written, mixed, and created by Nimm. They have also been hired in the past to write music for podcasts and fantasy-based commissions, which has become a side hobby.
Outside of music, Nimm enjoys playing Dungeons & Dragons, watching documentaries with their roommate, and writing in their journal. Their favorite musicians are The Crane Wives, Amber Run, and Christopher Larkin.
If you wish to learn more about Nimm or hear Nimm sing, here is a link to their website:
Celeste Felsheim (they/them)
Guitar, Vocals, Beginner Piano, Songwriting
In-Home: Ravenna, Greenwood
With experience in both professional orchestras and rock bands, Celeste is a lover and appreciator of many different musical genres. Celeste is a Seattle native who got their musical start at the youth summer program Rain City Rock Camp as well as the global year-round program School of Rock. (yes, it’s just like the movie!)
Celeste just graduated from Cornish College of the Arts with a Bachelor's of Music in composition and songwriting, and they also play all around Washington under the stage name King Sheim. They love to teach the passionate beginner and the weekend musical-lover alike! You can expect an equal focus on music theory and rocking out on stage
Thomas Leonard (he/him)
Piano, Guitar, Ukulele, Drums
In-home: Queen Anne, Ballard. In-Studio: Edmonds
A classically trained multi-instrumentalist/composer whose passion extends to every aspect of music. Studying music composition and percussion at Central Washington University, he has developed a broad foundation in music theory, technique, and improvisation. He has been teaching privately and professionally through local Seattle music stores for over three years. He specializes in teaching all styles of piano, guitar, and drums. However, he is always eager to share his ability to play many other instruments. He is as comfortable playing with a rock band as he is with an orchestra, jazz ensemble, or marching drumline!
Thomas strongly believes that learning to play an instrument is a personal journey that should be fun, rewarding, and challenging. He adapts his teaching methods to each student, and he encourages learning “outside of the books.” He loves finding new ways to keep students motivated and help them reach their personal goals. He understands the joy that music can bring to one’s life, and ultimately wants to share that experience with his students.
Conor Fortune (he/him)
Piano, Drums, Vocals
Online, In-home: North Seattle, Shoreline, Edmonds
Conor Fortune is a singer/songwriter that teaches piano, drums, vocals, songwriting, music theory, and recording. He is a well rounded musician that has a back ground in multiple genres including rock, pop, jazz, funk, and classical music and has been working as a music teacher ever since graduating from college six years ago.
Having graduated from the distinguished Columbia College Chicago he obtained a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies. Conor was top in his class and earned a music scholarship as well. He also had the chance to learn not just jazz but different types of music from his eclectic music program's ensembles. Some of them including Gospel Band, Latin American Percussion, RnB, Classical Repertory Ensemble and many more.
After moving to Seattle two years ago, Conor started his own band that he fronts and sings in and began playing with multiple other bands throughout the city. While he isn't playing music he spends most of his time producing and recording music out of his home studio and interning at Sound House Recording where is learning to hone is craft as a producer and engineer.
Erika Gersten (she/her)
Piano, Guitar, Vocals
In-studio: Broadview. In-Home: Greenwood
In my 9 years of teaching, the most common story I hear from adults is: “I took music lessons as a child, then I quit, and now regret it.” But if you’ve ever put an instrument in a toddler’s hands with no expectations, they happily bang and sing away! It’s clear that humans inherently feel, understand, and love music. So what is it about lessons that drives people to quit?
As a child, I had a strong ear but struggled to read music notation. Although method books can help us enhance our understanding of how music works, there is so much more to music than theory! And a strictly by-the-book approach neglects many important creative and practical skills that performing musicians use regularly.
Lessons shouldn’t be one-size-fits-all. My approach to teaching centers around my student’s strengths and interests. Some students are “ear-learners” who can sound out a song and copy it on their instruments. Some are “eye-learners” who can easily understand and process musical notation. Some are singers, songwriters, and performers who are goal-driven to fine-tune their technical skills and curate a niche experience for their audience. Truly, no student can fit into just one label, box, or methodology.
I have dedicated my life to music! I started taking lessons at 8 years old and performing solo shows at 15. Since then, every job I’ve worked has had a piano on-site. I’ve written, performed, recorded, and taught in most musical styles, but I particularly love songwriting, singing, playing songs by ear. I also love reading songs by chords and taking requests dueling piano style. And, after many years of struggle, I now find a lot of peace and joy in reading standard notation as well.
Let’s start with a trial lesson where we learn part of your favorite song!
Some of my favorite artists include Queen, Fleetwood Mac, Fiona Apple, Remi Wolf, Vulfpeck, Boygenius, Caroline Rose, Alvvays, Lizzy McAlpine, Julia Jacklin, Sidney Gish, Rosie Tucker, and tons of local bands which I’m extremely passionate about discovering. My local music playlist is over 16 hours long!
Not sure who’s right for you?
Instead of booking with a teacher off the bat, you can start with a Meet & Greet with our staff. We’ll help you find your perfect fit teacher and then you can schedule that sweet free trial.