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Contra

Music School

Where technical and musical beauty are inseparable.

Contra Music School is a home for artists.

Learn to master musical craft and artistry by working closely with our team of knowledgeable, experienced, and passionate educators.

We offer individual music lessons that are tailored to each student’s needs, goals, and learning styles.

Unlike any other music school, we match students with the most compatible teacher for them.

We Offer:

In-Person Lessons in the Montréal and Toronto Areas.

Online Music Lessons Across Canada.

In-person lessons typically take place at students’ homes or teachers’ home studios.

Regardless of lesson delivery format (online or in-person), lessons are available in English or French. We welcome students of all ages and experiences levels willing to learn.

Our approach to music education is all-encompassing, combining the following elements of musical practice to help students blossom into versatile and highly-skilled artists:

Instrumental Performance and Singing

Learn to master playing an instrument or singing in the Western Classical and/or Jazz styles. You choose your preferred instrument and style (voice included) and we’ll match you with the right teacher, even if it means going out to find one for you.

We also offer performance exam and audition preparation.

Composition & Improvisation

Write your own music and learn how to consistently create impressive, original music on the spot. We will help you master everything — from the fundamentals to the more advanced techniques of composition — in order to unravel and refine your own style and musical language.

We specialize in composition and improvisation in the Western Classical, Jazz, and Electronic Music styles. Learn more about each of these styles here.

If you’re applying to a composition program, we’ll help you put your portfolio together.

Music Theory & Counterpoint

Get the behind-the-scenes understanding of classical, jazz, electronic, and pop music. Once you learn how these kinds of music work, you can use this knowledge to support your creative interpretations when performing music and your innovations and craftsmanship in composition and improvisation.

Ear Training & Singing Skills

Improve your overall musical abilities by honing your listening skills and your voice. Mastering these skills will help you perform essential musical tasks, like hear written music in your head, sing written music without hearing it first, and translate what you hear in your head into an original composition. These skills can also help you make up music on the spot, harmonize with others, and learn music faster

Rhythmic Training

We know that the best musicians are strong in each of these elements, so we are sure to emphasize all of them. Leaving out one or more of these components prevents students from realizing their full potential.

Why Contra?

There’s nothing in the world that we love more than music and the people who make it.

Here’s how we put this love into practice:

Music is more than just technical ability.

We’re committed to cultivating the whole musician. We employ a well-rounded approach to learning that prioritizes developing strong fundamental skills, cultivating musical intuition, and helping students develop the confidence they need to become highly skilled, well-rounded musicians. We aim to inspire our students by fostering their artistry, creativity, and deep love for music.

We will never, ever provide or promote generic, cookie-cutter music education.

At Contra, we strongly and actively reject the one-size-fits-all approach to music lessons that is found in most other community music schools. Each student’s needs, interests, and goals are completely unique. In other, less attentive music schools, these elements are usually overlooked in favour of attracting as many students as possible to pad their bottom line. Our team has seen the damage caused by this generic, machine-like approach to music education and we’re working hard to flip the script.

Instead, our immersive approach to music education creates a place for people to be themselves and to grow. This results in extremely quick, tangible progress towards musical mastery. We’re extremely invested in our students, and aim to work with the individuality of each person on a deep level to ensure their learning and overall experiences are maximized.

We take the time to get to know our students and match them with the instructor(s) who they’re most compatible with.

One of Contra’s core values is maximizing teacher-student compatibility. We’re committed to finding the right teacher for you (or your child), rather than just slotting you in with whoever is available at that moment. We do this because we know from decades of combined experience that learning is personal, collaborative, and dynamic, which means that the teacher-student match can make or break both the experience and the results. Multiple teachers may work together to develop the most effective strategy for addressing a student’s needs and goals. This allows students to access the expertise of multiple educators in the most productive way for them.

The keystone that guarantees the success of this process is Contra’s founder, Antonio Seccareccia. He knows each of Contra’s teachers extremely well and makes strong connections with each student, organizing the best-possible teacher-student matches.

We scout the highest-quality musical and educational talent according to rigorous standards.

Our instructors are highly competent, well-rounded musicians who are fully invested in both making and teaching music. Contra’s teachers are irreplaceable—they’re recruited according to extremely high standards and specific selection criteria. In addition to their impressive resumes, they’re good, honest people who are committed to bringing the incredible beauty of music to as many people as possible. Contra is a community built entirely of talented, trustworthy, creative people. They check their egos at the door and aren’t afraid to take risks to ensure that their students get the most out of their music education.

With Contra, you can trust that you’ll be put in the best hands.

Every student’s experience begins with a free phone consultation with Contra Music School’s founder, Antonio Seccareccia.

This consultation is available in English or French. Click the button below to schedule your meet-and-greet at the time that works best for you.

Here’s what our current and prior students have to say about taking music lessons with Contra:

Julie L.

"Her continued interest is a testament to Paul’s personal approach and kind coaching style"

Paul is a fantastic piano teacher. He has been working with my 8-year old daughter for nearly two years, and she has not only improved her musical knowledge and piano technique, but she is still excited about learning the instrument, attending lessons and making the time to practice. Her continued interest is a testament to Paul’s personal approach and kind coaching style, as well as his ability to tailor the lessons to her interests and level, choosing music and exercises that she enjoys but also challenges her. If you are considering piano lessons, I highly recommend working with him.

7 Days Ago

John Doe

Sony CEO

"Her continued interest is a testament to Paul’s personal approach and kind coaching style"

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7 Days Ago