Darshell Dubose Everyone deserves a quality music education...not just those who can afford one! Company: Darshell's Quality Music and Entertainment, Inc. Location: Ridgewood, New Jersey Website: www.darshellsqualitymusic.com

Biography:
Darshell DuBose was introduced to music at the age of two when she listened to her Aunt Elizabeth and Grandmother Rachel play the piano every evening before bed- time.  The music took her to another place.  When the music stopped, her journey was over.  She knew that she needed music in her life.

At the age of five, DuBose’s parents made arrangements for her to begin private piano lessons.  While trained as a classical pianist, she had a desire to learn Blues and early Jazz piano but her piano teacher taught the European classics only. Therefore, DuBose’s repertoire consisted of music by some of the great European composers.  She performed this music in music recitals, church services and school programs but playing for herself was what gave her the greatest passion for music.

She continued to study music throughout her teenage years and decided to major in Music Performance with a focus in Ragtime piano when she was accepted at Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.  In addition to studying Ragtime piano, she became interested in Music History.  She learned about the great European composers that created the music she played on the piano for many years.  When she read about the time periods during which they composed their music, their music made more sense to her.  She saw the direct correlation between the events that were taking place during different eras and the music that was created during those eras.  She wanted to make the same connection with Ragtime and early Jazz music.  Because the head of the Music Department (a great Ragtime pianist) saw her enthusiasm, he guided her through an independent study on the progression of Jazz piano for which she received a Departmental Honor and was initiated as a member of Phi Alpha Theta, an International Honor Society in History.

After graduating from Lycoming College with honors in 1992, DuBose decided that she wanted to continue her studies in Music History and was accepted at Rutgers University into the Masters Program.  While attending Rutgers University, she studied under the head of the Jazz Department who guided her through an extensive series of independent studies in Jazz History and Analysis.  This enabled her to study at the Jazz Institute where the information on Jazz History is endless.  It was here that her Master’s Thesis, Learning How to Play Jazz Piano from the Beginner’s Point of View was conceived.

After graduating from Rutgers University in 1994, DuBose began teaching piano performance at several reputable music studios in New Jersey until she decided to build her own music studio, Darshell’s Quality Music and Entertainment, Inc., in 1996. During this time she devised an innovative method of teaching and put those methods into this curriculum and used them on her own students which resulted in a positive outcome.  Her students grasped the fundamentals of music with little or no difficulty, learned to play the piano and/or sing and became educated in music history.  Therefore in 1998, she made the decision to expand her teaching services to reach outside of the four walls of her music studio and developed a music curriculum for the Juvenile Justice Commission  of New Jersey (A state agency that leads and implements reform for juveniles who have committed crimes) for which she acquired State Certification and a teaching contract. Currently, she teaches Music Notation, Performance, History, Composition, Analysis and Appreciation at The New Jersey Training School for Boys of the Juvenile Justice Commission and uses an abridged version of her music books, The Quality Music Instruction Series, with successful results. 

Availability:
Available for music seminars, music workshops, and more..