Virtuoso International School of Music

In a short eight months, Mark's Virtuoso method has allowed me to progress technically and musically further than I could have possibly imagined.  The ingenuity of Mark's method is paralleled only by Mark's clarity, patience and nurturing that he brings to each lesson.  Overall, the Virtuoso method provides an excellent basis for progress, understanding and enjoyment.

Michelle Moog-Koussa
Executive Director
Bob Moog Foundation

My oldest daughter commented recently that her sister (who is taking the Virtuoso Method) has learned more music theory in 10 months than she has been taught in her 9+ years of instruction!  I was recently invited to a recital for a friend’s child who has been taking piano by the Suzuki Method for 4 years.  While she performed 16 songs beautifully, the songs were memorized.  No printed music was used and she cannot read music.  I believe that my daughter’s music instruction has enabled her to be vastly ahead of this child with just 10 months of instruction.  Not only can she read music and understand rhythm, key structure, and a fair amount of theory, but she is also performing much more complex works than those demonstrated by the child taking the Suzuki Method.  I am amazed at the progress of my daughter and believe that music instruction by ANY other method would have ended in a negative outcome.

Annie, age 8

I began taking lessons at age 5.  I had always struggled with music and never learned to read notes.  It was as if an entire world had been shut off to me because of my inability to read what past composers had written without painstaking recitations of “Every Good Boy Does Fine.”  With my last teacher I was only able to learn the easy parts of Fur Elise over a period of four months.  I finally gave up hope of ever learning to read music until I found the Virtuoso Music System in my local Best Buy store.  After only 11 months of lessons I have nearly completed the entire methodology and can finally read music!

Jonathan, age 17

I visited the Virtuoso International School of Music with a friend and was asked to sit down and play a song written in C# major (which has 7 sharps).  I was amazed that I could read any of the songs immediately.  I had taken piano before and mostly memorized songs instead of reading them.  If it wasn’t for the color I wouldn’t be reading music.  I began taking lessons in January but over the summer I had to take a four month break from piano to go away for ballet.  When I returned to the piano it only took one lesson to get back into form because of the color.

Shannon, age 16

In 1999 at the age of 12, Kyle Dreaden of Atlanta Georgia began his musical career enrolling in piano instruction with Mark Sandborn. For the next five years he studied performance, composition and audio engineering. It was during this time that Mark was writing the Unified Wave Theory and developing his methodology. Much of this theory and research was imparted to Kyle during this time period through experimentation. Towards the end of their tenure together, Kyle began performing within a few different bands of his own in the Atlanta area. At 17 Kyle was accepted into Berklee School of Music, but that path was never meant to be fulfilled. Within weeks of departing, seemingly unseen forces dictated a new direction and the band Jil Station was formed with sudden and furious impact on the Atlanta music scene with their album Still Love’. For the next few years Dreaden would begin to make his mark on the music world.
 

With his name becoming firmly entrenched along the Atlantic seaboard through radio, video, and innovative performances, Dreaden would soon attract the attention of major label industry executives. Upon completing an extended tour with Jil Station, Kyle left the band and began work on a new album using the name Dreaden as his new moniker. The highly anticipated new album has recently been released to rave reviews and is certain to propel Dreaden into the limelight.

Dreaden is once again back on stage performing his new album for Atlanta audiences.  For information on his upcoming performances go to  www.myspace.com/dreadenmusic.

"If you have been bored by the timid awkwardness of most young bands, then you haven't seen the spectacle, the "performance prodigy," that is Kyle Dreaden,"

Atlanta Music Guide

"With a maturity far beyond the age of 19, Dreaden has found his own voice by conjuring the magic of classic influences in a collision of self discovery."

MUSICREMEDY.COM

At an early age, I discovered I had the ability to play the piano by ear. As a child, I would sit at the family piano and pick out songs. Later, I convinced my mother to let me take piano lessons. The traditional method was a big disappointment. I found myself memorizing the tunes, relying solely on the audible, and none on the visual. Sight reading was short circuited. Before long, I viewed my God given talent as something that disrupted my ability to learn and play. The problem was not addressed and I became frustrated and quit.
Learning about the Virtuoso Music Method was a chance happening. When I inquired it was explained that color was used in this method. We discussed all the apparent connections between color and sound, art and music. This intrigued me as I am also a self-taught visual artist working in various mediums such as oils and acrylics.
Needless to say, I began lessons in October of 2006. I am now fifty years old. For the most part, my practice time has been extremely limited. I had only two and a half days at home a week for practice. I am now in Volume 5. I know without a doubt that I would not be playing at this level had it not been for the Virtuoso Music Methodology. I am now playing in every key signature with multiple sharps and flats.
For me this is a dream realized... a creative longing in music is finally being satisfied! Thank you Virtuoso International School of Music and Mark Sandborn. I would highly recommend this method to anyone young or old.

Pat Lilly
January, 2008

For me, like most people,  motivation is the driving factor in learning a new instrument.  The Virtuoso Method has given me this motivation in many different ways that none of my prior studies offered me before.  The piano lessons have always been affirmative, but instead of demanding perfection, the main focus was on progress and understanding.  Because of the logical and systematic structure of the books, I could see myself getting closer to the goal of mastering the instrument every single lesson, After just a couple of hours I was able to play my first songs.  But, perhaps the main reason for my excitement for the Virtuoso Method is its new approach to representing musical notes.  Connecting the traditional method of notation with the natural color scheme makes reading notes and understanding the music theory behind them easier to capture for the eye and more intuitive to process for the mind.  In short, learning by the Virtuoso Method is simple and fun.  Thank you Mark.

Christof Wedig - from the band Ruby Rough
Germany, 2009