Branden Ma

Piano, Songwriting, & Composition

Check out Branden’s Profile!

How long have you been teaching?

I started teaching around the beginning of 2024.

 

Which Opus Music Academy locations do you work? Do you have your own studio? If so, where is it located? Do you offer in-home lessons?

I teach at all of the Opus Music locations and also do in-home lessons.

 

What instruments do you teach? Anything else you teach?

I teach piano as well as songwriting and composition.

 

What is your studio story? How did you get to where you are now?

I started teaching friends in a casual environment while in college. After college I worked various tech jobs before deciding I wanted to make a shift towards teaching at the beginning of 2024.

 

What is one thing you think you do really well as a teacher?

I think I do a good job of being encouraging and helping students recognize any progress they have made. From my own experiences, I know that it can be hard to acknowledge our own achievements or progression. I get excited when I see a student getting closer to reaching their goals, and I do my absolute best to share that excitement with them.

 

What is one thing you really struggle with as a teacher?

I can lose track of time when I really start getting into a topic, which can in turn prevent me from using lesson time to its full effectiveness. I’m always trying to be better with this and be more mindful of how much time I spend on a specific topic during a lesson.

 

What do you do to retain your students?

I’m always trying to equip students with methods of practice that are clear and achievable. I think showing students incremental steps they can take to achieve their goals makes the whole process less daunting and nebulous, which in turn makes it easier for a student to be fully engaged.

 

Share a funny music story:

I had a student recently who, immediately after their (in-home) lesson, insisted upon showing me their hand-knitted rainbow colored yarn hat (it’s awesome). The sheer randomness of the situation made it hilarious to me.

 

What is your niche? What sets you apart from other teachers?

I’ve performed and practiced in a wide variety of styles, which gives me the confidence to teach multiple styles of music. I think my experience performing in different contexts drives me to better understand a students’ unique perspective on a musical idea.

 

What is your favorite band, artist, or composer? Why?

I love the music of Stevie Wonder; my older brother put me onto him when I was still in elementary school, so there’s a large element of nostalgia there. I also feel that as I grow and progress both as a human and a musician, my understanding of Stevie’s work deepens. To me, his music feels like an old friend who is always down to share a little wisdom.

 

What is something people would be surprised to learn about you?

I love to cook! I used to work in kitchens as a prep and line cook and my love of making food has persisted.

 

Let’s say you’re having coffee with a brand-new teacher.  What’s one piece of advice you wish you would have known when you started?

I think that it’s important, especially when being new to anything, to give ourselves the space and time to learn. I think approaching this in a similar way to approaching general music practice can be very helpful; we aren’t going to reach the final ‘performance’ state in one day, so it’s important to focus on achievable steps we can take to improve along the way.

 

Let’s say you’re visiting with a teacher who is feeling burned out. What advice would you give to them to give life to their studio?

I would tell them to take a moment to reconnect with their love of music, either through listening or playing. For me, staying connected with this feeling leads to a desire to share it, and I think a ‘burned out’ teacher could catch a spark of inspiration from doing this.

 

What do you do to inspire your students?

I’m always trying to share my excitement with students; I believe it has an infectious effect. More specifically, I think that heartfelt positive encouragement can go a long way for inspiring students. It’s just as important to recognize our achievements as it is to recognize our mistakes, and our mistakes often present opportunities to learn and improve more.

 

What is your craziest idea? What is something you would do if money, time, and space weren’t an issue?

My friends and I have daydreamed about packing our things up and creating an off-grid community to live in. We’ve even gone as far as assigning specific jobs to each member of the group (I’d probably end up as one of the cooks)! We’ll see if it ever happens…

 

If you weren’t a music instructor, what else would you do with your life?

I’d either be a chef or working in tech. My big interests outside of music have been food and computers, so I would go down one of those routes.

 

Want to learn more about Branden? Email us to find out more and to set up a free trial lesson!