Teaches in Texas

From Austin, Texas

Plays Piano, and Voice

About

Shae James is a pianist and vocalist from North Austin. She has been interested in music from a young age, and she started playing the piano in 2015 after watching someone her age perform on stage. She immediately bought a piano and began teaching herself. She also got some lead roles in a community musical theater, including “Iago” in Aladdin and “Smee” in Peter Pan.

Growing up, she was inspired by Carrie Underwood’s strong voice and Julie Andrews calm charisma. In 2017, she started playing the piano and singing for her church services, sometimes two and three times a weekend. In 2020, she got requests to teach some students of her own, and she did that while transitioning into a directing role for five choirs. She has taught piano and voice to anyone from age 5 to 85.

As a teacher, she likes to start by learning what type of music the student already likes, and then build on new concepts using that material. For example, many of her students over the years have really loved Disney music, so they would pick their favorite song, and Shae would use that to give them lessons on breath control, what belting feels like, hand positioning on the piano, and more. This way, the student starts a new project with some confidence, and can focus on the lesson itself without worrying about learning a new song on top of that.

Her focus is performance, like choir and musicals, and she loves learning new music that her students bring to her. When she isn’t teaching, she likes spending time with her husband and her dogs, usually reading or getting out in nature. She is so excited to start working with your student!