Musician, composer, and educator Chris Brown began teaching at Levine in Fall 2011. A graduate of Berklee College of Music, he previously taught at the Academy of Contemporary Music in London, England, the leading undergraduate school of contemporary music in Europe.  Chris teaches electric and upright bass, guitar, ensembles, composition and recording arts as well as the Louise P. Zanar guitar classes at THEARC. Music technology plays a big part in the lives of musicians today, which has led Chris to also teach GarageBand, Protools, Logic Studio and Ableton Live at Levine.

Chris is drawn to teaching because he enjoys helping students grow, both musically and personally. "I love to see the sheer joy when a student discovers a new way of expressing themselves through music," he explains. In addition, Chris encourages and inspires all of his students to not be afraid of making mistakes, keeping the focus on being playful and expressive.

Many students come to playing bass after exploring another instrument first, typically guitar, cello, drums or piano. Electric bass students can begin whenever they are physically strong enough to hold the strings down – typically at least 9 or 10 years old though there are many different sizes of instruments to accommodate younger musicians or those with smaller hands.

Technology offers today’s students numerous unlimited opportunities. Chris explains, “we seem to live in the future now and it's important to enable the next generation of musicians to explore these new vistas. So many new creative options are now available to anybody with a home computer, tablet or mobile phone in terms of recording, composition, performance, study/practice and of course music distribution and marketing.” Learning how to use the software turns your computer into a recording studio, composer’s desk, practice room or multimedia art installation.