Emily Best

Emily Best is a professional musician and music instructor based out of East Vancouver. She teaches piano, vocal technique, songwriting, theory and arranging to all levels and ages. Specializing in jazz and contemporary music, Emily has experience teaching many musical genres and draws upon a diverse background of music education, teaching, songwriting and performance experience to inform her instruction style.

Growing up in a musical family, her creative spark for music was ignited at an early age. She began studying piano at age six, completing Royal Conservatory examinations to the grade 8 level. By age 14, she ventured beyond her classical roots to pursue private piano studies in jazz and contemporary technique in tandem with vocal performance and songwriting. In 2007, with the intention of strengthening her songwriting skills she pursued a degree in Creative Writing degree from the University of Victoria. In 2010, she attended Vancouver Community College’s intensive jazz/contemporary performance program to study jazz piano performance and classical voice. She graduated in 2013.

In addition to her experience as a performing musician and private instructor, Emily has over five years’ experience engaging in alternative methods of private and group instruction. She has been teaching with the Sarah McLachlan School of Music since 2013 where she has had the opportunity to teach and develop curriculum for group music classes in tandem with the Canucks' Autism Network, Sarah McLachlan’s seniors’ ukelele ensembles, piano classes, and provide group project-based music education to inner-city schools around the lower mainland.

As an instructor, she believes that keeping her students inspired to learn is integral to their success. She is supporter of project-based emergent curriculum and while she is very passionate about youth engagement with the arts, believes a love for music can be cultivated at any age. By maintaining a focus on effective practicing techniques and collaboratively developing time management strategies with her students to help them best achieve their goals, Emily strives to promote a supportive and personalized learning environment for beginner and advanced students in hopes of inspiring a love for music they can keep with them for the rest of their lives.