Welcome to Bytes and Notes
Music lessons that build skill, confidence, and community.
Bytes & Notes is a family-owned San Jose music school serving children, teens, and adults in since 1997. Through supportive instruction, performance opportunities, and a welcoming community, we help students grow as musicians—and as a person.
Children through adults * Beginners through advanced * Personalized Instruction
What We Offer
VOICE
Structured training sessions designed to help you improve your singing technique, vocal health, and musical performance.
Private In-Person: Best for hands-on, immediate physical feedback on posture and breathing.
Online/Video Coach: Offers the comfort of practicing at home with access to our instructors.
PIANO
We teach music theory, sight-reading, and keyboard technique. We offer in-person or online classes, consistent practice helps students develop lifelong skills, including cognitive discipline and creative expression. Technical exercises like scales, arpeggios, and Hanon patterns to build finger dexterity. Learning to identify chords, rhythms, and interval relationships by listening.
GUITAR
Our lessons focus heavily on building physical comfort and mechanics. An introductory course ensures you build a foundation before trying to play complex pieces. Learning the names of the parts like the head, neck, fretboard, and body. Memorizing the open string notes from thickest to thinnest. The major scale, barre chords (like the CAGED system), alternate picking, and music theory and Non-diatonic harmony, modal soloing, hybrid picking, sweep arpeggios, and advanced chord voicings.
DRUMS
Students first learn how the bass drum, snare, hi-hats, and tom-toms form a unified soundscape. Our Instructors teach specific physical grips—like the matched German or French grips—to prevent bodily strain and maximize natural stick rebound. Lessons break down sheet music into foundational visual building blocks like quarter notes, eighth notes, and 16th notes. Taking structured drum lessons develops physical coordination, deepens musical understanding, and provides an outlet for mental stress relief and building fundamental physical mechanics and rhythmic comprehension step by step.
BASS
Our lessons are tailored from beginners to advanced players, Our Instructors are experienced Bassists.
We teach the core fundamentals of the instrument, proper hand placement, posture, finger style, picking and slapping techniques.
They also learn how to play with the drummer, building strong baselines and understanding scales, chords and arpeggios.
We also give them the knowledge and understanding of the instrument, amplifier tone, effects and pedals and overcome fright on live performances.
UKELELE
Our ukulele lessons are designed to get you playing your favorite songs from week two. Whether you are a complete beginner or looking to polish your skills, we provide a supportive and encouraging environment to help you succeed.
THEATER CLASS
Our Theater class acting lessons provide the fundamental tools to transform a script into a living, breathing human experience on stage. Beyond simply learning lines, these classes train a performer’s physical “instrument”—their voice, body, and emotional capacity. We offer a structured environment to build confidence, shed self-doubt, and master the mechanics of human behavior.
Dynamic stretching and physical games open up the body to remove nervous tension and rigidity. Focused projection and breath exercises expand vocal range. Short, unscripted exercises push students out of their heads, forcing them to rely on pure instinct and spontaneous listening.
A/V REINFORCEMENTS AND IT SERVICES
Our Audio/Visual Services come in a complete package. we have all the gear you need for your event.
We provide end-to-end audio-video reinforcement services tailored to spaces of any size.
Our IT Services include: A/V Installation, Network Infrastructure Setup and Management, Web Design, VOIP and IT Support.
OUR TEAM
Lewis Tecson
Founder/Technical Director
Technology Executive and entrepreneur based in San Jose, California, currently serving as the Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Silicon Valley Tech Source, Inc. (SVTS). He has over three decades of engineering and leadership experience in hardware, cloud computing, and IT infrastructure. : He is the Founder of this unique San Jose platform which pairs IT consulting with a family-oriented music school Bytes and Notes.
Ann-Marie Tecson
Co-Founder/Vocal Director
Multi-instrumentalist music teacher, and director based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is best known as the Director and Co-Founder of Bytes & Notes. She earned a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from St. Paul College of Manila in the Philippines. Aside from teaching, she is an active performer and soprano. She has headlined and directed various cultural events and fundraisers, notably performing alongside legendary Filipino singer-songwriter Jose Mari Chan during his California concert tours.
Anthony Mine
Voice, Piano and Guitar Instructor
A music teacher, singer, and performer based in the San Jose, California area. He’s been with Bytes and Notes since 2207 and been part of the Bytes and Notes Family. Holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music, Major in Education and Voice Minor in Piano. Before Bytes and Notes, he was a Choral Director at San Sebastián College Recoletos Philippines and at the University of Perpetual Help Rizal Philippines. He was a Theater Actor at the Tanghlan Pilipino Cultural Center of the Philippines and presently a Music Teacher at Saint John Vianney School in San Jose, CA
Michaela Soriano
Vocal Instructor
Mitch has been with Bytes and Notes since 2008, she coached some of our award winning students to various music competitions all over the bay area. She’s also a singer back in the Manila, Philippines, and Bytes and Notes was lucky enough to find Mitch and started teaching since then.
Alexis Delgado
Voice, Piano and Theater Camp Director
Is a professional opera singer, mezzo-soprano, and vocal coach who serves as a music teacher and the Musical Theater Camp Director at Bytes & Notes in San Jose, California. She performs professionally as an artist with Opera San Jose.
She sang as a backup vocals for legendary vocalists Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban.
She completed musical and vocal training at San Jose State University.
Esther Young
Piano Instructor
Piano Teacher at Bytes and Notes, is an active musician, writer, and community experience curator. She is a 2024 Content Emerging Artist Awardee and is currently working with a team of fellow artists to form the first Bay Area Artist Census. Her band Eve’s Heaven combines cultural mythologies and queer-feminist literature to make lush, melodic soundscapes about living with multiple truths. Prior to this, she trained as a classical pianist for 10+ years, winning medals in US International Open Music Competition and National Guild Auditions.
Rebecca Cabagbag
Vocal Coach Instructor
She graduated with a Bachelor of Music (BM) in Songwriting from the prestigious Berklee College of Music. During her high school years at Archbishop Mitty High School, she was heavily involved in premier vocal groups like Kind of Blue and Exodus. She serves as a vocal coach at Bytes and Notes. Her music blends contemporary pop, R&B, and soul. She has contributed to several commercial releases as both a vocalist and a songwriter. Becca has been Ann-Marie’s Student since age 5 at Bytes and Notes.
Lucas Tecson
Voice / Piano Instructor
Filipino-American singer-songwriter, music educator, and community organizer
Originally rooted in San Jose and now based in the Los Angeles area. He is best known for blending R&B, jazz, indie-pop, and musical theater into a soulful, nostalgic sound. He made history by composing “Get Loud,” the very first official anthem for Silicon Valley Pride.
Graduating from Chapman University with a background in commercial music, Lucas balances his performance career with music mentorship. He serves as a private instructor at Bytes and Notes.
Jason Spathopoulos
Guitar Instructor
He’s been teaching at Bytes and Notes since 2017, A guitarist and musician. Originally from Southern California, he moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to study jazz performance at San Jose State University.
He was the guitarist for the Southern California indie rock band The Murrows, joining the group shortly after it was formed in 2012 by brothers Bryan and Evan Fradin. The band was part of the Los Angeles area indie music scene and performed at local university events and competitions.
Hansel von Muller
Drum Instructor
American musician, professional drummer, and project manager based in California. He is best known for his work in the independent music scene and his professional career in tech operations. He plays drums for Mayari, an East Bay-based avant-garde post-rock band known for its esoteric song structures. He frequently plays live jazz and contemporary sets, backing artists like Paloma Tahn and Liam Ryan across Bay Area venues such as Big Dog Vineyards. he’s been with Bytes and Notes sometime now and love teaching his students.
Andrew Berger
Guitar Instructor
Andrew started teaching at Bytes and Notes since 2023 and he’s been enjoying being part of the team.
He has his own band that performs all over the bay area, with the touch of jazz, funk and rock music.
A very talented guitarist who want to share his gift of music to others.
Krystian Deveza
Drum Instructor
A musician, music instructor, and former high school athlete based in the San Francisco Bay Area, California.
He is primarily known for his involvement in local musical groups and music education, particularly through Bytes & Notes, a community music school and performance space located in San Jose, California
Earlier in his musical path, he performed as a tenor vocalist for the Bytes and Notes Chorale, participating in events like the Jose Mari Chan “A Love To Last A Lifetime” concert in Fremont, California.
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