Music Lessons

Music Lessons

Are you looking to enrich your student’s education but still keep it fun? Look no further than the lesson program at Dale City Music! We have highly qualified, patient instructors who know how to make learning fun! And don’t let the lack of an instrument stop you! We will let you borrow for your first lesson to determine if the instructor is a good fit and we have beginner guitars, bass guitars, keyboards, drums, brass and woodwinds in stock at competitive prices! Come in now and see why for 40 years, parents have depended on us to educate their children in the wonders of music!

We offer private (one-on-one) lessons for Piano, Guitar, Bass Guitar, Drums, Mandolin, Ukelele, Trumpet, Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Flute, Theory and Improvisation.

Casey Pugh – Guitar, Bass, Mandolin, Ukulele, Piano, Trumpet, Theory and Improvisation.

Casey Pugh has been teaching and performing music in the DC area for more than twenty years. Known for his solo classical guitar performances, he has also played in many combos ranging from flamenco to jazz to rock.A classically trained career professional musician, Casey shares his experience and knowledge with his students. His teaching approach stresses technique and theory while tailoring lessons to each individual student’s level and interests. Casey is comfortable teaching all styles and skill levels.

Casey holds regular student concerts so his students can apply what they have learned in a performance setting. These range from beginner recitals to solo performances of original music.Casey is a three time winner of the prestigious award for INSIDENOVA Prince William County’s Best Music Instructor.

Eliane Sunderlin – Piano

Eliane is a graduate of the Federal University of Goias, Brazil, where she earned degrees in Music and piano. She performed piano nationally in Brazil as a recitalist, and played chamber music in the Conservatory of Music of Anapolis, Brazil. She has had a great passion for music since childhood where she started playing in church at a young age. She has played piano for her previous church in California, and currently for her church in Stafford, VA. She has been teaching students of all ages to play piano since 1994, and currently plays locally in concerts, weddings and church services. Eliane helps students of all ages develop their skills and to become independent musicians, learning to play and enjoy the music that they love!

Juan Somarriba – Guitar

Juan started playing guitar at the age of 14. He went on to study classical guitar and musical theory at Radford University, where he received his BA in Music. He has performed and recorded with numerous DC rock and metal bands, to include Garden of Shadows, Brave, While Heaven Wept, Black Horizon and Modulus. Juan brings to his teachings not only years of experience with students of all ages and levels, but most remarkably his ability to address the spectrum of guitar techniques and musical fundamentals in a uniquely thorough and well organized way.

Sam Carolla —Drums and Percussion

Sam is an active musician in the greater DC Metro area and a native Virginian. He holds a Bachelor’s of Music with a concentration in Jazz Studies from George Mason University. Sam started music lessons at the age of 12 and was initially influenced by alternative rock, but soon became inspired by the sounds of jazz and fusion. Sam has six years of experience teaching students of all ages, and plays locally in a variety of styles including rock, funk, pop, straight ahead jazz, big band and musical theatre. He has performed with Steve Novotel, Cristian Perez, Kenny Rittenhouse, Eric Alexander, Wade Beach, The Peter Edelman Trio, the GMU Jazz Ensemble, Vocal Jazz Ensemble, Afro Cuban Ensemble and many more.

Scott Dinorma – Saxophone, Clarinet and Flute

Scott studied saxophone, clarinet and flute locally and at NVCC and JMU, taking private lessons from Dennis Brown(Hylton HS), Joe Eckert(USAF Airman of Note), Drs. John Gunnar Mossblad and Rick Crowley(JMU) and Robert Holmes(US Army Band).  Scott studied music theory and jazz improvisation privately and at NVCC and JMU. Scott has taught 40,000+ music lessons in a 20+ year career and students have gone on to play professionally and just for fun.  Scott has performed in VA/MD/DC and the East Coast and participated in national touring ensembles including marching bands, jazz bands, wind ensembles, rock, funk, blues, original and cover bands, wedding ceremonies, recaption ensembles and corporate events.

Nick Cronin – Guitar, Bass and Ukelele

Nicholas Cronin attended McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul Minnesota for guitar performance. Over the past decade, Nick has gigged with a variety bands, performing original music. Nick has been playing guitar for sixteen years and has been teaching private and group lessons formally for four years. Nick teaches both children and adults alike.

Nicks personal style in music is a fusion between metal/rock and jazz styles. Nick can cover a gambit of topics with students in their studies including legato, sweep, tremolo, economy, and hybrid picking styles. Nick teaches music theory in an applied context as it pertains to the instrument in an easy to understand format. Nick puts emphasis on understanding rhythms and grooves as well. Nick is primarily an electric player but also teaches finger style too. Nick can aid students to develop their own compositions. Nick will assess the student’s skill level, talk about the student’s personal goals and develop a custom curriculum to help achieve those goals. Complete beginners will start with reading notation and learn music fundamentals along with learning songs that the student would like to learn.

Nicks goal as a teacher is to make sure that every student has a positive experience with music, and develop musical growth in a positive, fun and encouraging environment.

Paul Jung—Piano and Drums

Paul was born in Seoul, South Korea into a musical family. A mother who was a piano teacher and a father who was a piano tuner. Paul naturally picked up playing piano through his mother and when he was nine started playing drums. In 2001, Paul moved to the US with his family where he continued his musical studies at school, through his mother and his peers.

In 2008, Paul was admitted to Berkeley College of Music with a scholarship. While at Berkeley, Paul studied music performance and music theory and also took part in many recording and performing projects with his peers. Since 2012, Paul has worked as a performer and educator throughout Northern VA and Washington DC.

Dan Kelly – Guitar

Dan has taught guitar at Dale City Music for over 35 years.  He works with students of all ages and levels. Dan teaches many styles, including classical, traditional, rock, pop, blues, jazz and country.  Students are taught to read music and/or tablature as well as learning music theory.

They also learn to play using flat picking and/or finger style methods. Individual lessons are customized for each student.Weekly progress reports are provided to the parents of younger students. Dan has played professionally at many venues in the Metro DC area. Dan has also done various studio recording sessions including some of his own compositions. He plays both acoustic and electric guitar.

Gary Luciani – Guitar

Gary Luciani began playing guitar at the age of 12 and was self-taught for his first 15 years on the instrument, before attending and graduating with honors from the Atlanta Institute of Music and Media.  Gary’s performance experience includes playing lead/solo guitar in jazz, rock, metal, pop and progressive styles, while specializing in classic/hard rock/progressive rock and metal.

Gary’s teaching style places emphasis on learning by ear and ear training with a strong basis in music theory and exposure to various styles and diverse techniques on both acoustic and electric guitar.