David King , Clarinet and Saxophone Instructor

What’s it like to play in the circus?  Ask David King, clarinet and saxophone instructor, who’s back with us after several years of ‘vacation.’

After earning his Bachelors’ degree in music at the University of Tennessee, David joined the Ringling Brothers Circus for two years.  “I couldn’t have found a better way to learn to read anything or fake anything,” David laughs.  “I was playing between 3 to 8 hours a day, nonstop.  And if I’d had my head buried in the music, I would have missed cues.”

Since taking a break from teaching with Music Arts, David has earned his Master’s degree at UT, gotten married, and is helping raise a baby now.  He’s still playing with the incredible Knoxville Jazz Orchestra, the leading Big Band in East Tennessee.  If you’ve been to any of their performances in Oak Ridge or in Knoxville, you’ll have seen David sitting in the front row, enjoying himself immensely.

David loves teaching and has a lot of experience to pass on.  “The main thing is to have fun with music,” he relates.  “Especially at younger ages, if kids can have fun with it, it’ll be easier to practice.  An example is learning to improvise.  If you take a simple tune and learn to add a few scale patterns, you have the basics of improvisation.”

David has set aside Tuesday afternoons to teach in Oak Ridge.  More information is available by calling our office at 865-482-5614.