My teaching philosophy is that every child is a main character. I cater every lesson to the individual needs of each student while emphasizing a culture of mutual respect and constructive interactions. Music is a pathway to community, self love, expression, and my life’s passion is to help people access this. Anti-racism, trauma informed, and culturally responsive sustainable education practices are embedded into how I teach and interact with students and families.
Teaching
Teaching Experience
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Community class teaching artist
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String Ensemble Teaching Artist
2023-Present
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Teaching Artist for SDYS’s Opus Project
Sectional coach
Substitute conductor
2023-2025
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Double Bass and Cello sectional coach
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Bass Instructor and Band Coach
2024, 2025
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Brooks taught double bass, strings, and ensembles at MYCincinnati from 2019 to 2023
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In the summer of 2023, Brooks was an assistant director of 4 summer camps through School of Rock Cincinnati.
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In the summer of 2022, Brooks was a disciplinary assistant to the music department of Kentucky’s Governor’s School for the Arts
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From 2019 to 2022 Brooks taught bass and coached bands through Girls Rock Cincinnati’s summer programs, and served as the Youth Programming Coordinator in 2021.
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Brooks coached double bass sectionals at Mason High School in Cincinnati, Ohio during the 2022-2023 school year.
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Brooks has taught private lessons since their undergrad. Students have been recognized as exceptional by the Carlson-Berne Foundation, and Brooks’s student has placed 4th chair in the state of Ohio’s Allstate Orchestra as a freshman in high school.
In private lessons, I teach my students how to become self-motivated learners. I take a wholistic approach to lessons, covering everything from posture and setup, warmups and exercises, solo repertoire, to music theory, building confidence as a performer, and learning about becoming a successful member of the music industry. Lessons are currently being taught from my home studio in Normal Heights, San Diego, CA.
Private Lessons
2025-26 School Year Rates: (rates may change after spring)
1 hour: $70
45 minutes: $60
1.5 hours $110 (1 student or siblings back to back)
2 hours $130 (1 student or siblings back to back)
If you are under financial stress, talk to me about Miller Music Academy fundraisers.
Student projects
Girls Rock Cincinnati 2021; Brooks’s camper band Tangerine wrote this song and recorded it in 2023
MYCincinnati double bass class project guided by the Lynx Project’s Sounds of a City cirriculum
MYCincinnati & WordPlay students collaborated to accompany poetry with planned instrumental improvisation