TEACHING
After 18 years, I have retired from my position as director of music programs
at the San Francisco Waldorf High School.
I am available for workshops, performance lectures and private lessons.
Available in person or online.
If I am performing in a city near you, feel free to reach out.
Parent/Student testimonials below ...
KQED on GREENLIEF, IMPROVISATION, AND ONLINE WORKSHOPS
WORKSHOPS
For the past few decades, I have been teaching workshops at schools, colleges, universities, galleries, and other arts-oriented spaces. I started out exploring ways to teach free improvisation and over time that led to composing works where I could invent my own tools and systems. For examples of this activity, you can find images and instructions for my MAP SCORES and BARBEDWIRE scores in the STORE section of this website.
Lately I have been calling these workshops COMPOSING FOR IMPROVISERS, where I introduce open works by other composers and myself, and get the participants to think about how they might create their own language and notation systems. A more recent interest is opening up the dialogue across performance disciplines, in order to create scores that any kind of artist could use. In this way I hope to inspire composers to engage in multimedia performance.
It is my aim in this work to enable artists to create works where each performer has agency to act as a leader. I am interested in providing models for our society to listen, and engage in playful activity without hard and fast rules on how to behave. If there is a political aspect to this work, it is to encourage independence, agency and responsibility for one’s actions.
More recently, I have been teaching solo improvisation, composing for improvisers, and leading the Composer's Ensemble at the California Jazz Conservatory (CJC).
leading a workshop with western oregon university's western hemishpheres ensemble photo by keller coker
PRIVATE LESSONS
I have been teaching privately for over 30 years and I truly enjoy it. It’s not something I do on the side to make money. I view teaching as important aspect of music - not only to conceive and to create it, but to inspire the next generations of composers and musicians.
I am a recommended teacher on the Berkeley High Jazz website:
http://www.bhsjazz.org/recommended-teachers/
My sliding scale rates are $50 - $90 for an hour lesson - pay what you can afford. The lessons are taught in my home studio or we might arrange for home visits (or meeting at your child's school).
I want to help students realize their goals as a musician, and sometimes that means helping them to articulate those goals. I have a general outline of what I like to cover - a sort of tool kit of basic skills that every player should possess. I try to leave the repertoire up to the student - often they have pieces they are playing in school or out on the club scene, but I am also keen to help them develop a wider appreciation for music through listening to new works. Here is a checklist of things I endeavor to balance in private lessons:
Long tones (holding a note for an extended period of time) for beauty of sound and tone, dynamic control (loud and soft volumes) and intonation (playing in tune)
Scales - Chords - Intervals - for a command of the basic areas of tonal harmony
Rhythm: understanding meter, pulse, tempo, rhythmic notation, polyrhythms, creating motion
Etudes and Exercises - for technical dexterity and sight reading skills
Repertoire - enables you to have an understanding of the material you need or want to know
Composition - the surest way to reveal or discover your voice as a musician
Improvisation - composing in the moment on your instrument
TESTIMONIALS - from students and parents of students
Phillip Greenlief is that rare and unforgettable music teacher who provides life-changing direction to his students. Through his deep knowledge of music, theory, and technique, and with gracious musicianship, he teaches how to truly "play" music, to find one's own voice, and to understand how to join that voice with other players. His love of music is infectious, his taste in music is wide ranging and impeccable, and he leads by example to help students find joy in music and music making.
former san francisco walforf high school student (electric bass)
Phillip is an exceptional saxophone instructor. I run a teacher learning program and believe that central to strong teaching is the ability to be curious about a student and how they approach learning. Phillip takes this inquiry approach to his work; he is an exquisite listener. While our daughter's saxophone skills have grown tremendously through her work with Phillip, the most inspiring part of Phillip's instruction for the past four years is the way he supports her to cultivate her own musical passions. In turn, he encourages her agency, values her ideas, and nurtures her creativity. When I asked my daughter her favorite thing about working with Phillip she said without hesitation, "Phillip balances challenge and fun. So few teachers are able to do this. They either are all about fun and I don't learn as much or it's all about the challenge and learning feels like a chore. Phillip finds the balance." Phillip is incredible and I hope he will share his inspired approach to teaching music more widely.
- parent of berkeley high student (alto saxophone)
Over ~6 years of lessons, Phillip taught me a wide range of material. He showed me a lot of important saxophone technique, theory, and skills for improvisation. Throughout studying with Phillip, I was constantly inspired to practice and work hard. One thing I really appreciated from his lessons was how he taught me what I wanted to learn, and regularly checked in about anything specific that I wanted to focus on. I also liked Phillip's authenticity as a player and teacher, and how he never made me memorize loads of different licks, and instead focused on helping me find my own sound and ideas. Phillip set me up for success and I hope others can learn from him as well.
-berkeley high school student - (tenor saxophone)
Philip directed the high school band in which my son played French horn. Yes, and while this is not necessarily a traditional jazz brass instrument, Phillip welcomed him to join. This openness and the desire to MAKE MUSIC TOGETHER exemplifies Phillip. He allows his students to take risks, gives them opportunities to arrange music and always, always encourages his players to share their spirit in song. Over Covid lockdown Phillip was a lifeline for my son, meeting on Zoom for private lessons and maintaining a connection, acting as a buoy, during such an isolating time. I observed my son's growth under Phillip's mentorship — not only as a musician, but as a human being. Phillip is so much more than a band leader or music teacher, he is a human filled with so much integrity and love that he becomes an integral part of his students' lives, and the lives of their families. Phillip Greenlief is a gem
- parent of a student at san francisco waldorf high school (french horn)