Meet our teaching team!

Learn how to play the music you love.

We offer passion-centered, student-centered private music lessons for singers, pianists, drummers and guitarists of all ages and levels of experience across many genres of music, including classical, jazz, R&B, pop, funk, blues, folk, new age, and rock music. As teachers and performers, we believe in an ethos of radical encouragement as a path to rapid and sustained musical growth.

Unfortunately, the way that music lessons are traditionally taught can suck all the life and creativity out of music—students are stuck learning an outdated curriculum that they may or may not be interested in learning, perfectionist and judgmental teaching methods cause students’ self-esteem to plummet, and popular songs have to be learned outside of the regular lesson time.

We believe in building skills and having fun.

We do things differently. We believe in building foundational skills, technique, and knowledge in a friendly, supportive environment, while having a great time—because fun and play are not distractions, but rather, fun and play enhance learning and focus. We also customize the curriculum so that it is designed around the music that you want to play.

For more information about our unique approach, see our Teaching Philosophy page.

Sarah Gettys

piano & voice teacher, studio founder

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Sarah Gettys (she/her) currently teaches private voice and piano lessons at her studio in Campbell, CA. She is an expert at inspiring her students, drawing out each person's intuitive musicality while offering feedback and suggestions that bring their musicianship to the next level.

Before moving back to the Bay Area in August 2014, she taught at the School for Music Vocations (Southwestern Community College) in Creston, Iowa. At the School for Music Vocations, she taught classical and jazz piano, ear training, and directed vocal groups. She also taught voice and piano lessons privately in Des Moines, Iowa. 

Prior to attending the School for Music Vocations in Iowa, Sarah attended the University of California, Santa Cruz, double majoring in Music and Literature. While she was a student at UCSC, she taught supplemental music theory classes at the university, accompanied student recitals, and was the piano accompanist at the United Methodist Church of Santa Cruz. 

She brings with her a diverse range of teaching experiences, having taught privately, in studios, and at the community college and university levels. She enjoys teaching people of all ages, having taught students who are three years old to ninety-two years old.

Hannah Levy

voice & piano teacher

Hannah Levy (she/her) is honored to be a member of the teaching team at Sarah Gettys Music Studio! A true musical omnivore, she is guided by her curiosity about music as a way to deeper understand ourselves, each other, and our world. Her enthusiastic teaching style prioritizes the joy of singing alongside cultivation of sustainable vocal technique, knowledge of music theory and authentic creative expression.

Hannah has been singing since childhood and performing professionally in choirs, bands, and studios since 2013. Trained in jazz and marinated in funk, RnB and a range of traditional styles, she has a wide lens through which to understand the amazing capacity of the human voice. Through study and collaboration with singers across vast genres and geographies, she has developed a curious ear and a deep belief in the connective power of song. She is a graduate of the California Jazz Conservatory (Jazz Vocal Performance,  2019) and a former member of Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble (2016-2021). In addition to touring extensively with Northern Harmony (2013, 2016, 2020) and recorded with Bay Area legends including Dizzy Jenkins (FKA Art3mis Prime) and three-time Grammy-winner Fantastic Negrito, Hannah plays bass and sings in dream pop band Little Arcs and vocal group, Stone Fruit Trio. 

In teaching, Hannah aims to provide a safe and encouraging container within which the student’s own curiosity can lead the way to fruitful lifelong music-making. Referring to the principles of the LoVetri Method of Somatic Voicework™, she focuses on drawing out the unique voice of each student through breath and body awareness and the balancing of the vocal registers.

Thomas Gettys

drumset & piano teacher

Thomas Gettys (he/him) is a multi-instrumentalist, performer and teacher based in San Francisco, CA. Born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa, Thomas spent his 20's playing, touring, and teaching. He studied both piano (with Lucas Mattson) and drums at The School for Music Vocations in Creston, IA. From there he went on to play with jazz ensembles of many sorts, to drum and sing in an indie folk band called The River Monks, and play timbale in a killin’ salsa group. This chapter of Thomas’s musical life also included the occasional country gig, and playing in the pit band for an odd assortment of musical theater productions including Urinetown! and West Side Story. 

Since moving to the Bay Area in 2014, Thomas has been an active member of San Francisco’s psych rock and pop scene. He’s appeared on drums and harmony vocals with such folks as Smokin’ Ziggurats, Luke Sweeney, and Sarah Gettys. From 2015-2017 he was Assistant Orchestra Teacher at San Francisco’s Waldorf School where he worked with the fourth through eighth grade orchestras and provided private lessons to their percussionists. The time Thomas spent with these students reinforced his commitment to the idea that students learn best when they are excited about what, and how, they are learning.

Thomas teaches like he plays - joyfully, supportively, and never sacrificing groove for flashiness. He focuses on mastery of the basics and establishing a foundational, ever-deepening connection to rhythm and time. For him, the piano provides a unique union of rhythmic and harmonic capacity - all of the groove and movement of the keys, hammers and strings, coupled with the full harmonic and tonal range of the instrument create a world of limitless expressive possibilities! Thomas connects with his students by drawing out their own curiosity and delight in music, encouraging them to explore what excites them, and reminding them that their own experience of the music is an important ingredient in the music itself.

mikki boyd

voice & piano teacher

Mikki Boyd (she/her) is a Bay Area musician who has a style that is simply her own, embracing her gospel roots, diverse education, training in both classical and jazz idioms, and her love of world music.

Mikki has been surrounded by music her whole life. Starting with her Pentecostal-Cogic gospel church roots, she began singing in church childrens’ and youth choirs from a very young age, and in her teens, she began directing these choirs. Mikki’s love for music led her to a small music school in Iowa called the School for Music Vocations, where she studied both classical and jazz piano and voice under the tutelage of Grammy nominated pianist Phil Matson.

While in Iowa, Mikki performed in both the ACDA and IAJE conferences, and she was mentored by jazz vocalists Kevin Mahogany and Diane Reeves who selected her to win the “Outstanding Jazz Vocalist” award. Also during her time in school, Mikki worked on special music projects and recorded in studio sessions with the Real Group, Bobby McFerrin, Darmon Meader of New York Voices, and Cedric Dent of Take 6.

After finishing school in Iowa, Mikki moved back to California and earned her Bachelors of Arts in Music at San Francisco State. She then ventured back to the Midwest to Northern Illinois University in Chicago, where she studied jazz composition, performance, and world music under Ron Carter, Robert Simms, and Liam Teague.

After earning her Master of Music, Mikki returned to California and began working in the Bay Area as a Music Director for a musical theater company for children. Mikki was accepted into the Red Bull Music Academy with teachers in residence Dave Matthews, Sir Mix A lot, Oh No, Theo Parrish and Questlove. Mikki is currently the Music Director at Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church in Oakland, where she leads the choir and coordinates the music for all services. Before transitioning to private teaching, she taught at Athena Academy, a school that serves children that have dyslexia and other learning difficulties such as ADD and ADHD. She brings her experience, expertise, and passion for music education of the highest quality to everyone who has a desire to grow and learn.

dereck orellana

voice & piano teacher

For Dereck Orellana (he/him), music has always been a source of joy. It’s this sense of freedom, playfulness and enjoyment – and a deep desire to share it – that drives his work as a teacher. 

Dereck first discovered his love of music as a young child when his elementary school music teacher introduced him to the violin. After a few years of violin, he began to explore the piano, which soon became his primary instrument. As a pianist, Dereck explored a wide range of musical styles and genres, and developed a particular soft spot for contemporary, pop, and musical theater. It was also through the piano that he discovered Sarah Gettys Studio, and began studying with Sarah at the age of 13. 

After almost a decade under Sarah’s guidance, Dereck embodies the studio’s core value of playing for joy, and he is excited to share his experience and passion for music with his students. As an educator, Dereck brings a compassionate, gentle, and collaborative teaching style. He specializes in helping students explore the piano from a place of curiosity and fun, and uses his robust foundation of technical skills and theoretical knowledge as tools to help students enhance their creative expression. Dereck is particularly passionate about working with youth and teens, and has a unique skill for helping young students build a playful, stress-free (and even stress-relieving!) relationship with music.

rowan katz

voice & guitar teacher

Rowan Katz (she/they/he) is thrilled to be a voice teacher at Sarah Gettys Music Studio! A vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist hailing from Los Angeles, Rowan has lived in New York City and Washington State, and now resides in the Bay Area. Touted as a powerhouse vocalist and performer, Rowan believes in using singing, writing, and vocal/musical performance as a way to dismantle shame and foster expression and connection. A true lover of folk music from all over the world, Rowan also comes from an extensive background in jazz, gospel, classical, and pop performance, which they have studied and performed for 16 years. 

Rowan loves to work with students of all ages, and at all stages of vocal experience and engagement. They are especially nerdy about singing for stress-relief and as a nervous system regulation tool, singing in community as a way of healing the world, and songwriting as a way of finding meaning and hope.

Rowan’s recent forays in the world of performance include "Songs of Truth: Holocaust Awareness Concert and Conversation" with the Golden Gate Symphony (Soloist), Free Key Choir (Soloist, Composer, Section Leader), HBO's "Scavengers Reign" (Vocalist), Noise Pop's "Summer of Music" Series (Featured Artist), and THEYFRIEND Performance Festival (Featured Artist).

susanna thomson

guitar & songwriting teacher

Susanna (she/her) teaches guitar and songwriting, and is currently accepting students of all ages.

Susanna has been playing guitar and writing songs since she was 12 years old, and has been performing professionally for the last 6 years as a lead singer, lyricist and guitarist in her rock band, Sour Widows. She is a strong believer in the practice of ear training as a method to gain intuitive understanding of the guitar, as well as forming a personal relationship with the instrument. She is also enthusiastic about widely accessible guitar notation such as chord charts and tablature as a way to bolster self-motivated learning outside of the classroom; she believes that while theory can be a helpful tool to use as a map while exploring the world of music, prioritizing curiosity and learning basics that open the door to playing and writing are key to fostering passion and facilitating self expression as a musician.

Susanna’s own journey with the guitar has been deeply influenced by artists such as folk and jazz legend Joni Mitchell and her many alternative tunings, 90’s slowcore/post-hardcore bands such as Duster and Unwound and their hallmark harmonic interplay, and contemporary Americana/folk rock guitarists such as Adrienne Lenker and Buck Meek of Big Thief and their raw dynamism and expressiveness. When it comes to songwriting, she feels that there is no one “right” approach; she loves to help others develop their own unique writing voice through mentorship, discussion, practical exercises, and analyzing selected songs together with the student. She believes that learning an instrument in conjunction with practicing songwriting is one of the best ways to cultivate one’s personal musical identity, gain an innate understanding of feel, and build a foundation as an artist that will consistently yield inspiration in music.

Susanna is excited to offer lessons that center each student’s unique inspiration for honing musicianship, whether it is based in learning an instrument, songwriting, or a combination of both. As a musician whose relationship to her instrument has grown mainly through writing and experimentation, she understands the importance of following one’s own creative interests in order to build a foundation that supports individual artistic identity. She is honored to be of service to any student in their path of self discovery, and believes that we all have something special to offer as artists!

Susanna has done over 10 national tours with her band since its inception, and most recently played Outside Lands Music Festival in 2023.