Early training
Bill grew up in Utica, New York, in a house with a piano teacher in it: his mother, who was also his first teacher. Between about 14 and 18 he took guitar lessons with Carman Caramonica, and later he worked on classical repertoire at the Crane School of Music.
Teaching in Virginia
He arrived in Orange County, Virginia, in June 2003, teaching at Orange Music. On February 1, 2009 he opened his own studio in Charlottesville.
He called it B# Music. A musician will point out that B sharp is the same key on the piano as C; Bill meant it the other way, as in staying sharp.
What he teaches
Acoustic, electric and bass guitar, piano, keyboards and synths, mandolin, banjo and ukulele, and songwriting on top. His students have ranged from four-year-olds to a 70-year-old, and the music from Bach to metal.
He is also the person students ask about gear. Which bass to buy, whether a baritone guitar makes sense, what a different set of strings or a different body shape will change, how to order a pedalboard: students bring those questions to lessons, and he answers them.
Still playing, still learning
Bill is the bassist in a working band and turns up at local open mics, so when he prepares a student for their first time on a stage, it comes from doing it himself. He also still takes lessons, regularly.
Outside the studio
Bill volunteers at the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA.
Further reading
- Behind B# Music: an interview with Bill Sanderson, Piedmont Forum, November 2020
