Testimonials

“I would highly recommend Alison as a music teacher. She makes lessons fun and is very encouraging…even if you’re just starting. With her gentle teaching skills you do get better quickly. She’s a talented performer too! Don’t miss a chance to hear her sing and play on her ukulele. Guaranteed to bring you smiles.”  F. Bond

“Alison has been a great ukulele teacher for me and I’m so glad I found her. She has let me learn at my own pace and has been very flexible. She’s also found a way to teach me a lot while letting me play the type of music I really enjoy. I would highly recommend her to anybody looking to learn how to play the ukulele!” Doug

From YELP

“I had an excellent experience taking voice lessons with Alison. I have no background in singing or music, except for being able to read basic piano sheet music. I always wanted to take voice lessons but have always been too intimidated. I’m glad I finally gave it a shot with Alison! We both had crazy busy schedules, but she worked with me to find a time that would work for both of us. During lessons, she was always patient and encouraging, and she made sure to focus on my goals. For me, that meant doing more exercises and scales rather than working on particular songs. I loved this approach and feel like I got so much out of the time, although half an hour FLIES by so fast! I only got to do about 8 lessons before I moved out of the area, but 8 was enough to clearly see the improvement in my voice, my vocal confidence, and especially in my fundamental understanding of singing and music. I highly recommend Alison! I also took one ukulele lesson with Alison right before I left town. I own a ukulele and wanted a few basic ideas about how to play it. In just half an hour Alison was able to give me a fantastic breakdown of the instrument, along with teaching me several chords and strumming patterns to practice on my own. I wish I could have done many more lessons with her!” Emily C

I just finished my first month with Alison!  I picked up the ukulele once before and never got anywhere with it. The second time around, I bought a nice ukulele, contacted  Alison and she had me strumming like a champ in no time!  Alison embraces my new engagement with the little four stringle of joy (it’s actually a tenor) and has been a huge help in getting me started with making the transition from Guitar to ukulele.  She has also been very flexible with my adaptations to sheet music. In addition, her love of vintage music is a perfect match for where I want to start. Alison has been a great teacher and support as I learn the basics of ukulele and I look forward to attacking the more difficult part of ukulele lessons with Alison as my instructor. Well worth my time and money.  I know when we start going into the advanced picking, it will be even more satisfying!” Bob C.

“We absolutely adore Alison.  She is incredibly kind and patient.  I have 2 daughters, ages 9 and 6.  They both take singing lessons from Alison & my 6 year is a bit of a handful sometimes but Alison is so cool with her.  Both my girls have grown and progressed so much, musically.  I often hear them practicing their scales completely on their own initiative.  I couldn’t imagine doing lessons with anyone else.” Luci D.

“My 11 year old daughter has been taking voice lessons with Alison for about 4 months and I am amazed at her growth. Alison has helped her gain enough confidence to perform in front of a live audience!  Alison is very flexible with our busy schedule, extremely easy to contact, and has a very gentle and encouraging manner that puts my daughter at ease.  I highly recommend Lessons with Alison!” Lisa M.

“On my 58th birthday in October 2014 I had a “bucket list” moment where I decided it was time to give music one last real try. I mainly wanted to sing, but I also wanted to learn an instrument to accompany myself. I decided the ukulele would be the ideal instrument (portable, inexpensive, easy to play) and went looking for an instructor. Several web searches turned up only one local instructor who taught both voice and ukulele: Alison Marae. My prior encounters with music (piano, guitar) always ended in frustration, generally because the instructors insisted on using lessons from lesson books, and I didn’t seem to learn well that way. Alison customizes everything for me, encouraging me to select my own songs, then helping me learn how to adapt the song to my voice (transposition), my voice to the song (tone, volume), and even doing some rearrangement and improvisation to make the song “mine”. Alison has proven to be the perfect instructor for me: Every time I’ve encountered difficulty, she always has a way around it or through it. This makes me trust her implicitly, to not only push me to achieve ever better control and range, but to also teach me to take great care of my voice. In the past year and a half I’ve gone from being a car/shower singer to having a 3 octave range, with another half octave on good days, and a realistic hope to eventually reach 4 octaves. Alison’s voice lessons don’t focus just on singing: She also emphasizes breathing, posture, balance, and mental relaxation/focus. We haven’t actually done all that much with the ukulele beyond the very basics, since voice is my top priority and it’s still improving! If you’d like to sing and play, please stop thinking about it and just call Alison. You won’t regret it!” Bob

“I am taking both ukulele and singing lessons for the first time with Alison. I really enjoy my lessons and Alison as a teacher because she is very receptive to my needs, spontaneous, and my lessons have been truly fun so far. I am learning proper techniques for voice and uke so far, and we have been focusing on the songs I love as well as some great suggestions from her. She even invited me to participate in a local ukulele meet up. Looking forward to see how my progress goes!” Kathleen V.

“My daughter has been taking lessons with Alison (both singing and ukulele) for over a year and we couldn’t be happier. She’s positive, encouraging while still challenging her. We’ve noticed real growth both in our daughter’s singing and her instrument playing. As busy parents we appreciate how flexible she is with scheduling as well as the fact that she comes to us for the lessons.”  Alex C.

“I’ve been working with Alison for several months now. This is my first time taking singing lesson and she is always very patient and positive. My voice has become much stronger and Alison continues to help me improve the quality of my singing. Thank you for everything Alison!” Halsey R.