Luciano Espin is a music producer, composer, and music teacher whose work focuses on multi-instrumental performance and education. With a deep interest in technological instruments and new forms of expression using sound design tools, Luciano integrates his expertise in guitar performance and electric bass into his innovative work.
He holds a B.A. in Music Composition and Performance from Universidad San Francisco de Quito, as well as a B.A. in Liberal Arts with a focus on Philosophy and Education. Recently, he completed a graduate program in Arts Education and Community Engagement at Centennial College.
Luciano’s professional journey includes teaching for the Ministry of Public Education of Ecuador in rural and indigenous communities as part of a national intensive education project. He also completed an internship in the education department of the Corporation of Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall, where he developed teacher resources and assisted in various workshops at the Allied Music Centre.
Get to know Luciano…Beyond the Bio!
Hobbies: Philosophy and literature, soccer, food, films, and agriculture.
Musical influences: Latin American music (Jorge Drexler, Gustavo Cerati, Mercedes Sosa, Caetano Veloso, Natalia Lafourcade), Electronic music (Daft Punk, Kaytranada, Disclosure, Bizarrap), R&B (Daniel Caesar, Hiatus Kaiyote, Jungle, Erykah Badu), Rock (Tool, System of a Down, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Doors), Pop (Rosalía, Dua Lipa, The Weeknd, Michael Jackson), Salsa (Hector Lavoe, Ruben Blades, Alexander Abreu).
Favorite food: Encebollado, a traditional albacore soup from Ecuador.
Least favorite food: Sweet Pepino (Solanum muricatum).
Favorite movie: “Interstellar” by Christopher Nolan
Favorite music movie: “Sweet and Lowdown” by Woody Allen.
Best quote from a music teacher: “Each instrument has a Spirit. Part of the Battle is to get that spirit to accept you as a mate, as a friend.” Zakir Hussain
Favorite book: “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Best thing about teaching at ABC: I find great joy in sharing my lifelong love for music with my students. I believe teaching is also a learning experience and my goal is to provide tools for individuals to know and express themselves through music and songwriting. My eagerness is to share methods for developing music practice in daily life.
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Assignments from March 20th
Hello Everyone!
I hope you all enjoyed your March Break!
Noreet:
Today we sight-read Mr. Haydn’s Theme and reviewed the meaning of transposition and modulation; when the song starts in one key and ends in a different one. Noreet can continue to practice the right and left hands of Mr. Haydn’s theme separately until she feels confident to try playing hands together. Noreet is able to find the first note of the song, if she forgets, please remind her that the ledger line in the middle of the staff is always middle C. Noreet can also feel free to go back through her book and review previous songs we have studied together. This is in anticipation of an upcoming student recital – I will have more information about this in April.
Vida:
Vida can continue to practice “Green Frog Hop” and “Theme and Variation”. Play with tempo this week; “Green Frog” can be played quickly while “Theme and Variation” should be played at a moderate tempo. “Green Frog Hop” is to be played no faster than 185BPM, this is fast enough for Vida’s liking but not too fast that we miss out on the melody. “Theme and Variation” is to be played at 120BPM on the metronome. Have her play along with the metronome at least once to internalize each tempo. Pay close attention to the running eight note figure in the Variation, please help Vida to ensure all eight notes are played evenly, that none of them “stick”, and that the phrase is played smoothly throughout. Record this one when Vida is ready so that she can hear the melody of the song – if the melody is unclear have her play it slower. Finally, help Vida practice her sight-reading with “Under the Sea”.
Eva:
I’m sorry we missed you today. Eva can continue to practice different rhythm patterns on the piano. She can also write her own rhythm pattern if she would like. Please help her to write these out if she wishes and ensure she uses the correct names for each note. See the flashcards in Eva’s google drive folder to help this process.
Christian:
For this week, warm up with the “French Minuet”. Play this entirely with one hand (even the one bar indicated for the left hand). You can alternate playing this with the right and left hand. Play it as quickly as you are comfortable with, being mindful of your fingerings so your fingers do not get tangled up when ascending or descending. Continue to practice the chord progression for “How Long Will I Love You”. Use the bottom note of each chord to map out where your fingers land for each chord – this will help with faster transitions between chords. When confident playing the pattern of the chord progression, try adding in the roll. Review the first two phrases of the right hand, watching out for where the melody is in stepwise motion or leaping intervals. You can also read more of the piece to challenge your sight-reading.
Happy practicing everyone!
Assignments from March 6th
Hello Everybody!
Just to confirm, we do not have lessons this week, March 13th. Please enjoy your March break!
Noreet:
Sorry we missed you this week! Please continue to read and practice Mr. Hayden’s theme and we will see you after the March break.
Vida:
I have uploaded both a recording of Green Frog Hop and the sheet music for “Under the Sea” to the google drive. When practicing Green Frog Hop, have Vida record the song and listen back. Work towards playing the whole song start to finish with no pauses. Have Vida practice playing the last bar of one phrase and the first bar of the next phrase back to back to smooth the transitions from phrase to phrase. She can listen to the recording I’ve uploaded for reference, you might have to download it off the drive. If she wants to play it faster, thats fine. Sight read “Under the Sea” we will review this in class after March Break. Please find both the recording and sheet music here and here.
Eva:
For warm up, help Eva practice some of the rhythm patterns I’ve uploaded to the google drive. She can either clap these or play them on a piano key. Please help Eva sight read “Little River” from Piano Adventures Level 1. This song is all step-wise motion, but please help Eva with the bass line specifically as we haven’t worked with these notes as much. The goal is to play this song smoothly so that there is no break or pause in the sound and for all notes to be held for their written length. Eva can practice this by walking her fingers up and down the keyboard. You can find both the rhythm patterns and “Little River”here.
Christian:
Feel free to record yourself playing both “A Little Night Music” and “Sailor’s Song” so you can hear how you play the song. The goal is to play them both as if performing them. Play both songs start to finish in one take each, then play the recordings back listening for areas of the song you feel good about and areas that still need more work. Go back and practice the areas that still need work. For “How Long Will I Love You”, practice the chord progression in the first 4 bars, playing the chords both “solid” and “rolled”. Also, sight-read as much of the right hand as you can, we will review any mistakes next week.
Happy March Break Everyone!
I will see you in lessons on March 20th. Happy practicing!
Assignments from February 27th
Hello Everyone!
Wow some awesome progress this week!!
Noreet:
Today we reviewed the D Major and A Major scales hands together. Noreet can continue to warm up with these, however please pay extra close attention to the descent of these two scales and review the fingerings slowly to ensure Noreet’s fingers don’t get tangled. Practice the descending pattern, hands separately, 3 times each, increasing the speed of the tempo each time. Then play the scales descending hands together. Noreet can also practice E Major hands separately slowly. Noreet would like to continue to review “More Ice Cream” this week. Please help her and remind her that this song starts on a D. Noreet can also slowly start to practice Mr. Hayden’s Theme. She will have to sight read this herself. Should she get stuck, or not recognize a note, help her find the answer by asking if the next note is higher or lower than the one she just played and by how many steps.
Vida:
We are working on Green Frog Hop! Remember that this piece has both an F sharp and an F natural in it and sometimes alternates between these two in the same bar. Please remind Vida the difference between the two and help her to identify both on the page and keyboard. Also, a correction from the lesson…The small triangle symbol in the piece is NOT a marcato as I called it in the lesson, it is an accent. But they mean very similar things – make sure Vida emphasizes the accented notes and phrases by pressing the keys firmly. Finally, please help Vida to sight read the second page of Green Frog Hop as we did not get to that in the lesson. When practicing this piece, please dedicate more tome to reading and practicing the left hand to help Vida become more familiar with the notes in the bass clef. Start with the left hand, then read the right hand, play both together when Vida is confident. Feel free to record Vida playing this one when she is “performance ready”, it sounds like this was helpful last week.
Eva:
Great first virtual lesson today! We started to read through “Piano Adventures Level One” today! You can find this book available on amazon here. Today we looked at page 4 in the book “Get Ready for Take Off”. A copy of this has been uploaded to the google drive. We reviewed our note values with flashcards, talked about time signatures, reviewed our dynamic levels, and played through some rhythm patterns! For this week, I have uploaded both the note values flashcards and 9 different rhythm patterns for Eva to review. With the rhythm patterns, Eva can feel free to clap these rhythms or play them on the piano. When playing these rhythms, please ask Eva to count out loud to ensure she is holding each note for the correct amount of time. Should Eva get stuck, or is unsure of how a rhythm pattern is supposed to sound like, use the Note Values Flashcards to help remind her how many beats each note gets. You can find the flashcards here.
Awesome work this week! I’m so excited to see how much we all accomplish in March!
Happy Practicing!
Assignments from February 20th
Hello Everyone!
Such fun classes today!
Vida:
Great work this week! Continue to warm up with the F Major scale, hands together. Continue to work on Rhino in the Mud. Don’t forget the D in the right hand of measure 8, and review measure 9-11 (this phrase starts on a G!) You can feel free to record this song for Vida to hear! Ask her to play it as if she is “performing it” (playing start to finish smoothly, and as accurately as possible). When listening back, have Vida follow along by pointing to the notes she hears with a pencil. Take turns pointing so that Vida can read and listen at the same time.
Eva:
Great to see you this week! Please continue to help Eva read “Dancing with Frankenstein”. She knows the first phrase, we read this together in class. If she gets stuck and doesn’t remember the notes, I’ve uploaded flashcards of all the notes in the song for review. I’ve also uploaded a work sheet for Eva. The sheet asks her to write in the names of the notes, write the correct note on the staff, and to colour the notes she sees with matching colours. She can also practice “Jingle Bells” as she requested this song in class. Please help her to read this when practicing, she knows most of the notes, but some of them are new (D, F, and A). If she gets stuck, ask her if the next note is higher or lower than the one she just played and by how many steps on the “ladder”. You can find the worksheet and flashcards here.
Christin:
Great class today! Continue to warm up with the C and G Major scales. When practicing “A Little Night Music”, remember to look for the shape of the phrase to help with sight-reading. I’ve uploaded a recording of myself playing so you can hear the “finished product”. Try not to rely on the recording and remember to read the notes rather than listen for them. If you feel up for the challenge, try to sight read “Sailor’s Tall Tale” that I’ve uploaded to the drive. You can also start to work on “How Long Will I Love You”! Specifically work on playing the C Major (1st inversion) and G Major chords both solid and “rolled” and practice the eighth note melody in measure 9. Feel free to sight read as much as you can between now and our next class, we can correct any errors then. You can find the materials you need to practice here!
Thanks everyone for great classes this week! Happy practicing!
Assignments from February 13th
Hello! I hope you all had a fun snow day!
Noreet:
When warming up this week Noreet can continue to play her G Major scale hands together, pay close attention to the fingerings in as the scale descends. D Major can be played 2 octaves hands together. Practice the A Major scale hands together slowly. We are still working on Ice Cream and More Ice Cream. When practicing please remind Noreet that the eighth notes are twice as fast as the quarter notes. I’ve uploaded a video to the google drive to help Noreet has she learns to play two different rhythms in both hands. Please play this for her so that she can follow along. The same pattern can be practiced on her own with the metronome. Have her count out loud (1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and) as she taps along. Use the metronome when playing Ice Cream and More Ice Cream. Play these pieces slowly hands together. You can find the video here.
Vida:
Today we learned the F Major scale! Have Vida practice this hands separately for warm up. When she feels confident she can play it hands together. We continued with the song in her book. She can continue to practice the first two phrases, please help her read the 3rd and 4th phrases of the song. We can talk about any questions she has about the piece and address any problem areas next week in class. We also reviewed our note values and intervals. She likes the note value work sheets so I’ve uploaded a new one for her to work on this week. Please bring this next week and we will correct it together. You can find that sheet here.
Eva:
Hello Eva! Sorry we missed you this week. I’ve uploaded a new song called “Donkey’s Love Carrots” to the google drive for you to practice if you need more material for this week. This song has stepwise motion and some small jumps. If you wanted to try reading this at home together we can address any problem areas next week. Otherwise, continue to practice “Dancing with Frankenstein”. If you feel confident with the notes in this song, practice performing the song. You can find “Donkey’s Love Carrots” here.
Thank you everyone! I hope the weather is better for next weeks lessons. Happy practicing!
Assignments from February 6th
Hello Everyone!
Great lessons this week! Some really exciting progress and some great first lessons with new students. See your homework and practice recommendations below!
Noreet:
For warm up with week, please have Noreet play all her scales hands together. Practice a two octave G Major scale at 85BPM on the metronome, two octaves of D Major slowly, and one octave of A Major very slowly. All scales can be played 85BPM when Noreet feels confident in the scale. We reviewed Ice Cream and More Ice Cream on page 18 of her book. Please continue to practice both of these. These two pieces have Noreet play different rhythms in her two hands at the same time. Please help her by counting out loud slowly with her when practicing (1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and). Have Noreet point to the notes while she counts. Practice the right hand melody and left hand chords twice through separately before trying to play them at the same time. When confident, play hands together slowly.
Vida:
Help Vida to sight read the next song in her book. Continue to practice the difference in staccato and legato playing as indicated in the song. We will discuss and review any unfamiliar concepts in this song next week. Remember, this song has a B flat in it! Please practice Life is Better Loud hands separately. Remind Vida that the letters I’ve written in are chords not notes. Practice these chords in sequence with the left hand, these can all be found on the chords and triads page of her binder.
Eva:
Hello Eva! It was so nice to meet you and your mom on Thursday! For this week, please practice “Dancing with Frankenstein”. I’ve uploaded this to Eva’s folder in the google drive, you can find that here. Please help Eva to read this piece at home, The left hand starts on A and the right hand starts on a C. If she doesn’t recognize the next note, ask if its higher or lower than the one she just played, and by how many steps, the count up alphabetically to find the next note (moves up 2 steps from C = E). When Eva is confident with the notes, practice “performing” this smoothly (its okay if we don’t get here this week).
Christian:
Hey Christin! I’ve attached a link to the google drive and uploaded Sailor’s Tale in case you don’t have it. Please find that here. Continue to practice this over the next two weeks. When practicing, warm up with the C Major and G Major scales hands separately, focusing on the proper fingerings (123,12345). When practicing Sailor’s Tale, practice your right hand and left hand separately, focusing on accurate pitches and rhythms. I’ve uploaded more sight reading resources if you get stuck. Start your practice by sight reading the whole thing start to finish, ignoring the rhythms if you have to. This will allow you to practice reading. Then practice small chunks of the song (e.x the fist 3 bars) focusing on accurate pitches and rhythms until you can play the phrase confidently and smoothly. You can feel free to practice a few small sections throughout the piece (e.x the first 3 bars and the last 3 bars). Use the free metronome if you find this helpful, this is a free resource on google. Should you feel confident you can then play both hands together slowly.
Happy practicing everyone! I look forward to more lessons next week!
Assignments from March 22nd
Hello!
I hope you all had a good March Break!
Berke:
For this week, please have Berke warm up with Mozart’s minuet in F so that he can continue to practice playing hands together. Remind him that there is an octave jump in the left hand in measure 3. Please ask Berke to play the full 8 bars as smoothly and as accurately as possible without stopping. Challenge him to resist going back in the music to correct any mistakes; play each bar once and move on to the next bar – even if its not perfect. Play the piece this way 3-5 times then put it away. Today we started learning Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata! This piece is in C# minor and has 4 sharps F#, C#, G#, and D#. When practicing, Berke must remember that these notes are always to be played sharp, unless otherwise indicated in the sheet music. There is also a B# in this piece. We talked about it today in class, but if Berke forgets, please help remind him that B# and C are the same note. We also learned that in musical notation, should an accidental (a sharp, a flat, or a natural) appear with a specific note in a bar, this accidental is implied every time that same note appears within the same bar, regardless of whether the accidental is rewritten or not. There is an example of this in measure 4 of the sonata. Berke is to practice the chords in the right hand as well as the octave figures in the left hand for the first 8 bars of the piece. When he feels confident playing the notes of the chords accurately, he can play the 8 bars hands together. The sheet music for “Moonlight Sonata” can be found here.
Happy Practicing!
Assignments from March 1st
Hello!
We had a really fun lesson this week!
Berke:
We learned a new scale today! Berke can move on from G and D Major and focus on playing A Major. Start by practicing this scale hands separately until Berke is confident with the 3 sharps and fingering for A Major, then practice hands together. We did some more sight reading. I’ve uploaded a new piece for Berke to Sight Read, its called “Andante in G Major”. Please have him read the right hand and left hand separately. Remember, the purpose of sight-reading isn’t to memorize and perfect the song, but to practice reading the notes and playing them accurately on the keyboard. Have Berke read bars 1-5, bars 6-9, and bars 10-14 of this song throughout the week to brush up on his reading. Have him play them 2-3 time maximum. We will review these small phrases in class next week. “Andante in G Major” can be found here. Finally, Berke is to continue practicing Mozart’s Minuet in F Major. Please make sure he puts more time into practicing the left hand than the right as he is more confident with the right hand. We also were able to play the full 2 phrases we have been working on together! I played the left hand while Berke played the right hand, then traded parts. Practicing this way helps Berke hear how these two lines fit together. I’ve uploaded several recordings of the song so that Berke can practice this way at home. There are 9 recordings in total, please play these for Berke so he can hear them. Have him follow along on the sheet music while he listens. He can choose which recording he feels will be most helpful in his practice this week and which ones he wants to try playing along with. These recordings can be found here.
Really great work these past few weeks! Looking forward to what we will accomplish in March.
Happy Practicing!
Assignments from February 22nd
Happy Saturday Everyone!
Berke:
Please continue to warm up with both the G Major and D Major scale, playing them both hands together. Today we did some sight reading! I’ve uploaded a few more sight reading sheets to the google drive for Berke to warm up with. These exercises test how well Berke can read the notes on the staff. Please have him read “sight reading sheets 1, 2, and 3” when practicing this week. Remember, the goal of sight reading is to play the phrase from start to finish as accurately as possible. Have Berke play through these no more than 3 times, even if they’re not perfect. We will review them in class together next week. We also reviewed Mozart’s Minuet, playing hands together from measures 3-6. When practicing this piece, Berke can review both the right and and the left hand separately before practicing measures 3-6 hands together. For this week he is to slowly add on measures 2 and 7, playing both hands together. Isolate these measures, play them on their own to practice until confident then play measures 2-7 all together. You can find the sight reading pages here.
Great lesson today! I’m excited to see your progress next week!
Assignments from February 15th
Hello! We saw some really great progress this week!
Berke:
We reviewed and warmed up with our scales. Practice G Major hands together, focus on the fingering particularly in the descent of the scale. We learned D Major, this scale has 2 sharps F# and C#, this can be practiced slowly hands separately this week. We played through Mozart’s minuet in F Major. We’ve started playing parts of this hands together slowly. When practicing this piece, please remind Berke that both the right hand and the left hand start on F. Continue to practice both the right and and left hand separately, specifically the left hand as this is not the melody. Remind Berke that the B in measure 2 is to be played flat. When practicing this piece hands together, start with measures 4, 5, and 6. We practiced these in the lesson. Playing these three bars hands together smoothly, accurately, and confidently is the primary goal for this week. When Berke is confident with this he add on measure 3 or measure 7 (Berke’s choice). Practice either of these bars hands together on their own until comfortable and confident add on measures 4-6. Also, we discussed the importance of accurate fingerings when playing the minuet. Please print Mozart’s minuet for Berke as he would like to write in the fingerings under the notes. Have him bring this to class next week and we will correct it together. Finally, I’ve uploaded a sheet titled “Notes on the Staff” to the drive to help Berke with sight-reading. The sheet labels the notes on the staff and where they are on the keyboard. He can use this to help read if he gets stuck. You can find both the minuet and the sheet here.
Great class today! Some really great progress, I look forward to seeing how we improve next week.
Assignments from February 1st
Hello Saturday Friends!
Great lesson today!
Berke:
We learned a new scale today! Berke can now practice G Major, one octave, hands separately. He can also practice C Major with two octaves! Please help Berke by reminding him that both of his thumbs should be on C when he finishes the first octave before he starts the second. This anchor point will ensure proper fingering. We sight read more of Mozart’s Minuet in F Major. Our focus today was proper hand placement and fingerings to allow for efficient playing. Continue to read and practice this at home. Make sure Berke is practicing both the right hand melody as well as the left hand base line. Proper hand placement and fingering are imperative with this piece, please make sure Berke is starting the right hand with his 3rd finger and that the second note in the first 3 bars is played with the 5th finger. This will ensure Berke has enough fingers left to come back down the keyboard as the melody descends. For the bass line, Berke should start with his 5th finger so that he has room to climb with the keyboard. Ensure the C in the 3rd bar of the bass line is played with his 1st finger (thumb) so that he can reach the octave below with his 5th finger. Finally please make sure Berke plays the Cadential Movement at the end of both the first and second phrase in the bass line with his 1st, 3rd, and 5th fingers as practiced in class.
Cadential Movement: Acts a musical period at the end of a phrase. Creates resolution in the phrase.
Great progress this week! I’m looking forward to hearing Berke play more next week.
Assignments from January 25th
Hello!
What a great Saturday full of lessons!
Berke:
Today we reviewed our scales. Please continue practicing C Major hands together, paying close attention to the fingerings of the descent of the scale. Start to practice G Major hands together slowly. When practicing the triads at the end of the scale please ensure Berke plays these with his first, third, fourth, and fifth fingers. The chord should always start with the first finger (thumb) in the right hand, and fifth finger in the left hand. Practicing proper fingerings will help to ensure Berke’s fingers do not get tangled in ascending and descending scales. We also started to sight-read a new piece today! Berke expressed an interest in playing Mozart, so I have chosen Mozart’s Minuet in F Major. This is a selection in the Level One Royal Conservatory Repertoire book. Please help Berke to sight-read this at home up to the end of the second phrase. Should he get stuck, ask if the next note moves up or down and by how many lines and spaces. This will help guide Berke to the answer as we continue to learn how to sight read. You can also rely on the note names sheet I sent home the first week. A copy of this sheet as well as the Minuet and the C Major triads has been uploaded to the google drive. You can find these in the link below.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bJUyXO3FeNBIdhir_V72u45oNlDvneD1?usp=sharing
Thank you for the great lesson today! Happy practicing!
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