Mandy Mears

Bio

Mandy is a Durham native who fell in love with music at an early age. She began piano lessons at six and grew up singing in choir, playing in band, and accompanying musicals in high school. She attended East Carolina University and graduated with a degree in music therapy with piano as her primary instrument. After ECU, she completed her music therapy internship at MusicWorx in San Diego, CA. Mandy recently moved from Raleigh to Asheville to pursue a master’s degree in Social Work at Western Carolina, and she plans to incorporate this with music therapy to serve clients better. Mandy loves performing as a solo singer-songwriter and has enjoyed playing in bands around Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill. She has over ten years of music teaching experience and always strives to be like the supportive teachers she experienced in lessons growing up. She loves creating relationships with students and working with them to gain confidence and grow into creative musicians.

Lessons with Mandy

My teaching philosophy is that music lessons shouldn’t be boring. They should be exciting and cater to each student’s goals and needs. I meet students where they are, get to know their learning styles and motivations, and then we can build a plan together. Would you like to learn Minecraft music instead of Beethoven? Let’s do it. Want to write a song about something that happened over the weekend? Great, because we can incorporate what you’re learning musically into something creative and unique. Recently retired and you want to learn some songs on guitar? I love it! My teaching style combines flexibility and structure to create a safe and productive learning environment.