Warmup Mastery Series

Ciara McAllister is a San Francisco–based pianist, recording artist, producer, and founder of McAllister Music Studio. With over three decades of teaching experience, she has guided hundreds of adult students from their very first notes to confident performances on stage and in the recording studio. Ciara began her musical journey at age six, quickly discovering how scales unlock the entire language of music — from reading notes to improvising in a church band at just ten years old. She went on to earn her degree in Piano Performance, where she studied both classical and jazz traditions, and has since built a thriving career as an educator, songwriter, performer and producer. As the creator of The Musician’s Path, Ciara specializes in transforming overwhelming theory into friendly, doable systems that stick. Her students describe her as the teacher who finally helped scales “click” — turning them from mechanical drills into tools for songwriting, improvisation, and expressive playing. She designed Master Your Major Scales after hearing again and again from students who could play memorized songs but struggled with sight-reading, improvising, and understanding theory. Drawing on her professional background as both a performer and educator, Ciara distilled the exact process that makes scales feel musical, meditative, and fun — so every student can build the technical foundation they need to play with freedom. Whether she’s producing an artist in the studio, recording with her band Kitten Around, or coaching a beginner through their first confident scale, Ciara brings the same passion, helping musicians unlock their creativity by mastering the fundamentals that matter most.