Leitham Brown

Hey, I'm Leitham.
I'm 20, and am doing a double major in music at UWA.

I've cultured a passion for music and teaching over my comparatively short life to the other incredible teachers you'll find on this website, but I can promise that you'll be finding yourself in capable hands.

My qualifications:
I'm an AMUS level cellist with a strong grounding in advanced music theory. I have studied under WASO cellist Shigeru Komatsu and am currently studying under the well respected Dr Suzanne Wijsman. I've taught a highschool cello trio and also offer private tutoring. I've been playing music for 15 years and the cello for 12. I'm a member of WAYO (the West Australian Youth Orchestra) and have also gathered a great deal of experience in musical leadership, having played as principal cellist in an orchestra for two years.

My Journey into Music

(This is a long read and doesn't actually give much information about the style of my teaching nor the quality of it, but if you want to learn about my relationship with music so far, you're welcome to have a read.)

My first introduction to music as a kid was through my mother, who taught and still teaches, piano.
I fondly remember one evening as a four-year-old, waltzing into the music room in our house after my mum's last student for the day finished her lesson, demanding (as is the way of a four-year-old) to be made a cold milo. Instead, my mum introduced me to the piano. Not knowing how this one decision would change my life, I began to learn.

I continued to play until I was in year 3, before starting to drift from playing, not unlike my older brothers.
Then everything changed.

Many public primary schools offer a program in partnership with a government-run service now named IMSS (Instrumental Music School Services). After passing a test, in year 4, I and two other girls were thrown into group lessons.

Unfortunately, there would be some serious setbacks as I continued to learn, despite the wonderful help my mother gave me by teaching me music at such a young age. As is the way of kids group lessons, results never rocketed high. My two group partners quit learning, and due to not being allowed to be privately tutored by the program (being free), I was dropped into a group of four in the year below. Another unfortunate setback, however, I didn't let that stop me and continued to try my best.

Highschool then came. I ended up moving to a private school, which meant I was removed from the government program, and I finally started to get private lessons, this time from a teacher who did not specialise in cello, having acquainted herself with all four main classical stringed instruments, but titling herself as violist professionally. Compared to the group lessons, the rate at which I improved was astronomical. I began to really enjoy getting more serious about playing music, now joining the high school orchestra. I kept at this at a good rate, just enjoying playing until late year 10.

It's there that I stalled, and I stalled hard. At this point, I had reached grade 5 in music but was struggling to progress. At this point, I was practising an hour a day and yet still progressed at a snail's pace.
A year later and I still had the same repertoire and didn't know what was wrong, and as hard as I tried to follow my teacher's feedback, I was stuck.

In the next 3 months, I would work harder than I ever had before, doubling my daily practice time to a consistent two hours and looking at the way I practised from a new angle. My playing finally began to shine and before I knew it, I was more than ready for my Grade 5 exam. After all of that work, I fell just short of receiving 'honours' in my exam, but the far more importantly, I unlocked new potential in myself for success.

I got a new teacher, a cellist from the West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) and a meagre 4 months later, I became capable of playing at a grade 7 AMEB student level.
After another 9 months, I had achieved in a year what seemed a decade away the year prior and gotten to a grade 8 AMEB level and since then I've never stopped battling to get better.

I love to teach. No matter the subject, I take pride in what all my students have learnt and enjoyed in our lessons, and hopefully I can do the same for you.

I'm reaching out to teach not just for the experience and money to pay for my future tuition, but also the joy of it. I don't want others to suffer the setbacks that I have experienced. I want to offer you or your child the joy of music by giving you a well-tailored experience so that you or your child can achieve things I wouldn't even have dreamed of a year ago.

Thank you.