Xander Birchfield

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Bio & Experience

I have been playing piano since 2015 and I have been teaching since 2020, but my musical career actually did not begin with piano. In 6th grade, I started out in my school's concert band as a percussionist. I did not pick up piano until I entered 8th grade. Once I entered high school, I joined marching band as a snare drummer and later became captain of the whole drumline for a year. It was then I discovered my passion for teaching. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown most places including schools. I became super bored as I did not have much to do. In May of that year, I started teaching virtual piano lessons simply to give myself, and others, something fun to do during a not-so-fun time. Following my first year of college in 2022, I established Birchfield Piano with the goal of becoming a national music education company. As of May 2024, Birchfield Piano has students in 3 states in the US. 

Contrary to my musical interests, I am studying to become an engineer, and I have found ways to mesh my interests together. I am entering my senior year at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, VA. This past summer, I interned as a Manufacturing Engineer at Hillphoenix, an industrial refrigeration plant. At RMC, I am involved in the LUXE Show Choir as a keyboardist, R-MC Drumline, Leadership Fellows Program, and Society of Physics Students. I have also participated in guided research in engineering with one of my professors. My most recent project was titled "Characterization of the Acoustic Properties of 3D Printed Materials." In this project, I compared the acoustical properties of spruce wood to the acoustical properties different 3D printed materials (PETG, ABS, and Nylon). The goal was to find the best material acoustically to use in the creation of 3D printed musical instruments to reduce manufacturing costs. My professor and I were successfully able to print 3 ukulele prototypes for comparison to a spruce wood ukulele. Our 3rd prototype was a comparable match acoustically to the spruce wood ukulele. I presented this research at the 2024 Virginia Academy of Science Annual Meeting at the University of Mary Washington. 

In my free time, I enjoy being with my friends and my amazing girlfriend, Allison. I love playing the piano and creating my own music. Some of my favorite music to play and inspiration comes from artists such as Elton John and Billy Joel.

Teaching Philosophy

I believe that every student should learn to find their own originality in music. I will of course teach students how to read music and the concepts of music theory. However, I go a step further in my teaching. Every successful musician has one thing in common, which is the ability to create new music and a new style. I work with my students to give them all the musical tools they need to create their own music in addition to learning the music they want to play. Every student will have different goals as far as what they want to learn. My role as a piano instructor is to help students establish and achieve those goals.  

Teaching Hours & Availability

Below is my Fall (September - December) 2024 term availability. My availability is not necessarily set-in-stone. Once you register for lessons, I will be in contact with you about scheduling your lessons. If none of the times below work for you, send me an email with your availability and we can try to work something out together. 

Texts & Necessary Materials

I have adopted Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course Levels 1 - 3 as my primary piano method. The book series does say that it is for adults. However, younger pianists can still learn from the book and do well with the lessons. I have taught the songs in the book to students from all ages 6 and up. 

I do recommend purchasing a copy of the book either hard or soft copy. If you have never had lessons before, purchase level 1. If you have some experience, wait until your first lesson and we will discuss which book to get. No matter how students get the book, they need to make sure they can annotate the music in the book. I have a digital copy I can share pages out of if needed, but students will need to ensure they print the music prior to their lessons. Otherwise, learning the music during lessons can become difficult. 

I pull from other sources as well for the music and theory I teach to students. All of my students learn to read music and then I also teach improvisational/musical writing skills with chord charts. While not necessary, Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory is a good reference for most music theory topics. It gives a quick summary of the topic with practice problems all on one page and it covers about 75 topics. I recommend it for students planning to have a teaching career in music. 

Attendance Policy

• Should a student need to miss any portion of a lesson for any reason, a 24-hour notice in advance of the lesson is required via email, call, or text. At this point, a make up credit will be posted to the student's account for a later appointment. Certain extreme circumstances will be handled on a case-by-case basis as long as the student contacts me within 24 hours of their lesson. 

• Students will not receive make-up lesson credits for lessons in which they do not attend without prior notification of the instructor. Should the instructor need to miss a lesson, the student(s) will be notified and make-up lessons will be conducted at a later appointment. 

• Should a student be late for a lesson, the instructor will wait for 10 minutes before canceling the lesson. If you are planning to be late for a lesson and you do contact the instructor 24 hours in advance, it is recommended that you still reschedule the lesson if you would like your full amount of time. Usually students are taught back-to-back without any buffer time, so it’s difficult to give students their full time when they are late without delaying other students. 

Assignments & Award System

• In addition to the lesson every week, students may have small homework assignments that will help them better understand piano theory. Also, students will have at least one page of music out of the textbook to practice every week and they may also need to practice their recital music. All assignments are posted to my Google Classroom page. Each student will have their own section heading in my Classroom with their name on it where I will post all of their notes and assignments. 

• Point values are assigned to each task students complete. Points are awarded on three conditions: Completeness, Improvement, & Effort. I will average these points to get a final percentage at the end of the term. Below is my award system breakdown. 

  • Theory & Piano: 75%

    • Theory Assignments: 10 pts each

    • Piano Performance: 5 pts per page of a song assigned

  • Lesson Participation: 25%

• Students who attain a 95% point average by the end of a term and receive a recommendation from their instructor, will receive the Birchfield Piano (BP) Excellence Award. This award will give students a discount on their next month of private lessons or group course tuition charges, whichever comes first. 

• Synchronous Students: Generally, all theory assignments (written homework, online quizzes, etc.) are due 24 hours before your next lesson unless noted otherwise on your Google Classroom assignment. This will allow me time to check your work prior to the lesson, so you can get the most out of your lessons. Any theory assignment submitted beyond one (1) hour late will only receive half credit. All credit is lost once the assignment is 24 hours overdue. Please reach out to me ahead of assignment due dates if you feel you need more time. 

• Asynchronous Students: Generally, all assignments (theory work and piano practice videos) are due every Monday at 5pm EST unless noted otherwise on your Google Classroom assignment. I will then provide feedback and further assignments every Tuesday following the Monday deadline. Assignments are accepted up to 24 hours late, but will only receive half credit. Late work may also result in your next assignments being posted a day later. All credit is lost once the 24 hour grace period has passed. Please reach out to me ahead of assignment due dates if you feel you need more time. 

If you have any questions regarding any of the information in my profile, feel free to contact me and I will be happy to help!