About
Based in Bloomfield, NJ, His & Hers Music is a small family-owned music school. We offer private music lessons at our home studio in Bloomfield. Instruments offered include Voice, Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, Drums, and Beginner Piano. Song-writing & Music Theory classes are also available. Rockbands, Audition coaching, other exciting group workshops are offered seasonally.
His & Hers Music's Instructors are proud members of professional organizations such as the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), The New York Singing Teachers Association (NYSTA), and The New Jersey Federation of Music Clubs (NJFMC), Follow the links Below for additional information.
We are his & hers music
Husband and wife duo Diane Aragona & Charles Salamone aim to provide quality private music education, with an emphasis on family and a goal of serving the surrounding communities.
diane aragona
voice, audition coaching
Diane Aragona has her Master of Music in Classical Voice from Rutgers University, where she studied under Judith Nicosia. Ms. Aragona is the founder and co-owner of His & Hers Music, a private music school in NJ, where she teaches voice. She has worked extensively with her school on community outreach to make extracurricular music education available to children, adults, and seniors in northern NJ. Most recently, they have partnered with the Bloomfield, NJ Department of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Affairs to offer affordable music classes and events for the community. Outside of teaching, Ms. Aragona also coaches and mentors beginning teachers on the business side of teaching as they embark on the journey of starting their own studios.
Ms. Aragona served as private voice instructor for the National Children’s Chorus in NYC from 2015-2018. Additionally, she has experience teaching voice lessons and group vocal classes at Rutgers University. As an experienced adjudicator, she has judged vocal competitions for the Mid Atlantic Music Teachers Guild (MAMTG), National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), and the New Jersey Federation of Music Clubs (NJFMC).
Ms. Aragona is an active recitalist and church musician, most recently performing at The Church of the Sacred Heart in South Plainfield, NJ, St. Peter’s Church in New Brunswick, NJ, and St. magdelen de pazzi church in flemington, nj. In 2016, she performed in NYSTA’s Tribute Concert to Tom Cipullo at the National Opera Center. Past operatic performances include Weill’s Threepenny Opera, Bernstein’s Candide, and Delibes’ Lakmé. She has had the pleasure of working one-on-one with prominent composers such as Tom Cipullo and Richard Hundley. Ms. Aragona is the Registrar on the Board of Directors for the New York Singing Teachers Association (NYSTA), a member of the NJ Federation of Music Clubs (NJFMC), and a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS).
Charles Salamone
guitar, bass guitar, song writing, piano
Multi-instrumentalist Charles "Chuck" salamone has been teaching music privately since 2008. Chuck has his B.A. in music from Rutgers university, where he was active in choral, instrumental, and a cappella groups throughout his studies. As a toddler, Chuck was fascinated with the Disney film, “Fantasia.” He believes that this movie is the reason why he became so interested in studying and exploring his creativity with music as his medium. Since the founding of his first band in middle school, Chuck has loved performing as the front man of several bands. Today,
Chuck is a music educator by day and a performer by night. His current musical project, "Amigos, Amigos!", released their first record "It's Okay, They're not listening" in 2014. Their second studio album is set to be released in early 2017. Outside of "Amigos, Amigos!", Chuck works on a variety of both solo and collaborative musical projects, ranging from classical/folk crossover to the arranging & looping of popular video game melodies,
Chuck focuses on inspiring his students to not only be knowledgable musicians, but to also be creative and original as they develop their own work. Chuck goes beyond teaching the basics of the instrument as he also offers insight into the creative process of song writing.
JARRETT WALSER
DRUMS, piano
Jarrett began his musical journey at the age of three, but his love for jazz began at the age of 11 when he started studying at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s (NJPAC) WellFargo Jazz for Teens program. During his 7 years at NJPAC, he had the fortunate opportunity to study with jazz greats such as Ralph Peterson, Cecil Brooks III and Dion Parson. After his studies at NJPAC, he continued to pursue his passion for music at Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts, where he received his B.A. in Jazz Performance. While there he was able to study with world class musicians Victor Lewis, Ralph Bowen and Conrad Herwig to name a few. After the 3 away from school he returned to Rutgers and is currently a Masters student at Mason Gross School of the Art and he plans to focus on his life long passion of playing music.
Even though Jarrett’s musical background is in Jazz, he has grown to love and appreciate all styles of music. He has performed with various funk and pop/rock groups such as Charles Laurita and The Mischief, Always On Time and Goddess Laskshmi. Jarrett is now excited to continue is musical journey with Amigos, Amigos and to collaborate and reunite with his former college “amigo” Chuck Salamone. He is very excited to join the team at His & Hers Music as the drum/percussion instructor.
Billy Carrión
Beginner Piano, Woodwinds, Bass Guitar
Raised between Brooklyn, New Jersey, and Puerto Rico, Billy was immersed in music from birth. His father, a journeyman salsa singer, filled their small apartment with every genre imaginable, turning rhythm into a second language for Billy before he ever picked up an instrument.
His father would often show him maracas as early as age 5. By age 9, he was playing and learning the ins and outs of the alto saxophone because according to his father “the baritone was too big.” By 14, he was a professional with his first big break to travel on a quick tour with some of musics elite. His first gig placed him directly alongside veterans like Robby Ameen, Pete Rodriguez, Raul Agraz, David Oquendo, Professor Joe Torres, and Rubén Rodríguez, marking the start of a career defined by "learning on the stage.” Billy earned his way into music's elite through passion, an "old school" dedication to the masters, and finding his own path forward, with mentorship from masters such as Ray Barretto, Giovanni Hidalgo, Jerry Gonzalez, and Allen Won.
For over two decades, Billy was known as a first-call baritone saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist on woodwinds, percussion, vocals, even synths, and eventually, the bass.. He toured and recorded globally with legends such as Eddie Palmieri, Ray Barretto, Henry Cole, Alfredo Rodriguez, Ray Santos, Nestor Torres, Los Pleneros De La 21, Ray Santos, Bobby Porcelli, Tom Vela and The Wayside, among others. His versatility made him a staple in the studio as well, where he spent years as an arranger and woodwind artist at Big Blue Meenie Studios in Jersey City, contributing to genre-bending recordings that pushed the boundaries of rock and jazz. On any given night you could’ve seen Billy at the Bitter End one night, the Exit Zero Jazz fest the next, or even at the Toro Y Salsa Fest halfway around world the next night. Billy has toured the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Europe in venues and festivals.
The Transformation
In December 2023, Billy’s career reached a sudden crossroads. A severe case of a nerve disorder resulted in permanent facial paralysis, bringing his career to an abrupt halt. Faced with the loss of his primary voice and most of his doubles, Billy didn't quit.
Billy decided to dedicate himself to the bass; an instrument he had quietly explored for years as a compositional tool and light double. What began as a shift in necessity became a total artistic culmination. Billy emerged with a fully realized voice on the bass, one that carries the weight and melodic memory of his decades as a woodwind specialist.
A New Sonic Vision
Now, Billy Carrión steps forward as a full time bassist whose sound is as unique as his journey. His playing is a tapestry of influences: the deep jazz harmony he studies and admires, the Afro-Caribbean rhythms of his heritage, and the nostalgic, melodic memory of 8/16-bit video game soundtracks.
Billy performs on a collection of specialized instruments designed to match his tonal vision. His primary tool is the "Bone Breaker Bace," a custom contrabass handcrafted by Mark Zandveld.
Beyond the Stage
Whether leading his original jazz quartet, Higher Standards, pushing boundaries with the electric collective U.L.T.R.A. S., exploring modern modal jazz with Glenn Whites Sacred Machines, swinging hard with the Ardie Walser Quartet, or even covering classic Latin jazz staples mixed with classic video game arrangements with his Latin jazz ensemble Sin Egoísmo, Billy remains focused on evolving music to its purest form, one note at a time.
Offstage, Billy continues to share his world through his Twitch channel where he connects with fans through retro gaming and unfiltered conversation.
NEWS
Give the gift of music Lessons!
We offer gift certificates for lessons in all available instruments (Voice, guitar, bass guitar, Drums, piano, and songwriting)!
Contact us for more information!