Experienced tutor in Music theory in San Rafael, Steven offers private lessons tailored to your needs.

Steven is an outstanding teacher. He has a wonderful way of talking and teaching to my 13 yo clarinet+saxophone player. He recognizes him as a young adult and treats him maturely. Steven is a highly skilled instructor. He has greatly improved our son's technique over the past year.

He is an amazing teacher.
In my family nobody plays music. My daughter is the first one in my family interested in music.
She loves her lessons with Mr. Bergman, she is progressing a lot,she started playing the recorder and now she moves to the clarinet.
Also whit all this happening (covid 19)
He is helping us a lot.

Steve has been a strong force for good in our son’s development on the tenor sax these past six years. As a musical mentor, Steve teaches with a mindset that students grow into their instruments and his stories, patience and adherence to laying a strong musical foundation supports this approach. Steve has used humor and clear direction to guide our son from age 9 to 14, from elementary school to high school band and jazz band. Our son is a more confident and competent musician because of Steve.

I enthusiastically recommend my sax and clarinet teacher Steve Bergman. Steve has been my teacher for three-plus years. He is an outstanding teacher of both classical clarinet and jazz sax. I started as a complete beginner with Steve at age 64. Steve does a great job of letting students set their own pace. His clarinet lessons excited me so much that I took up alto and tenor sax. Steve teaches just enough music theory for me to move to the next level. Steve is now teaching me the fundamentals of jazz improvisation. He also gave me helpful guidance buying instruments and accessories, and saved me a lot of money in the process. I’ve gotten to know some of Steve’s other students, and they are also enthusiastic about him. Every week I look forward to my lesson with Steve!

Mr Bergman has been my twelve year-old son's music teacher for five years. In that time, my son has gone from casually playing the recorder to becoming a flute player in our county's youth orchestra. In addition, with Mr Bergman, my son has learned to seamlessly read music.

My son really enjoys his time with Mr Bergman, and he particularly likes the time they spend talking on a variety of subjects related to music. Before the pandemic, lessons were at our house, and Mr Bergman went out of his way to include my younger children (by bringing them instruments to experiment with and by teaching my son pieces that the younger two would like). Current lessons (via Zoom) are primarily focused on my son's orchestra pieces, but Mr Bergman also makes time to include modern music and songs which bring a bit more 'fun' and playfulness to his flute studies.

Mr Bergman is a wonderful instructor. I don't believe my son would still be playing an instrument if he hadn't connected with Mr Bergman.

My child (Jacob) has been taught by Steve since second grade progressing from Recorder to Flute, Clarinet and Saxophone. Steve's patience, knowledge and enthusiasm has managed to keep Jacob motivated and engaged in music education for many years. It's a pleasure to listen to the progress made each week now that the lessons are held online.

I studied classical clarinet with Steve Bergman for approximately eight years. When I started taking lessons with Steve, I was in elementary school and had just begun learning how to play the clarinet. Steve immediately helped me expand my range and build a technical foundation. When I entered middle school, Steve introduced me to the the local youth symphony program, encouraging me and assisting me as I auditioned and successfully participated as a member of the one of their ensembles. As a freshman in high school, Steve helped me prepare for one of my biggest musical achievements, performing a movement of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto with this ensemble. In following years, Steve taught and guided me as I auditioned for and joined the youth symphony, with which I went on a European concert tour and attended a youth symphony festival.

Steve has proven to be a truly outstanding music teacher. Steve's teaching and encouragement have helped me to grow technically, overcoming hurdles to become a better player. I am constantly impressed by the wealth of knowledge and experience Steve possesses and is willing to share. Steve has an incredible knowledge of the clarinet and clarinet repertoire, and always provides historical and musical context to a piece. During lessons, Steve was always sharing technical tips and tricks to improve the smoothness or musicality of a phrase or passage. Furthermore, I feel that Steve’s teaching helped me to grow not only as a musician, but also as a person. I increased my work ethic and improved skills like patience, listening, and focus while taking lessons with Steve. I feel that through studying with Steve I have gained not only technical skills and a friend and mentor, but also a deep appreciation and love for classical music. Steve helped me to discover that I love to play classical music, and I anticipate I will continue to do so for the rest of my life.

Steve is an excellent and professional music teacher who has the ability to connect with both younger and older students alike. My son began taking clarinet lessons with Steve in 5th grade, and is now a high school freshman and a member of the local youth orchestra who has won several clarinet competitions. Steve has been both disciplined and encouraging every step of the way. As someone with a deep knowledge of both classical and jazz music, Steve is able to craft his lesson plans to fit your goals. I could not recommend him more.

I stopped playing the clarinet when I graduated from high school. And 53 years later, as I retired, I decided to start playing again. A friend recommended Steve. Having studied for a year now, I'm pleased with the instruction. He clearly explains musical concepts, assigns just the right amount of practice materials and challenges me. I appreciate his ability to make the clarinet come alive for me again.

My 10 year-old daughter began taking private clarinet lessons with Steve about two months ago after her public school canceled band due to Covid. I can't believe how much progress she's made in such a short period of time. In addition to being a great instructor, Steve is also very engaging. My daughter really enjoys her weekly lessons and is thoroughly focused the entire time. She also likes the little stories and anecdotes that he weaves into every lesson. Steve always seems to know exactly how to improve her playing so that she can fix mistakes immediately. I will admit that I wasn't entirely sure if zoom clarinet lessons would be effective but I've been blown away by how much can be accomplished. I highly recommend Steve as a music teacher.