Philosophy.

I have been playing guitar since I was 14, and I still remember the feeling I got the first time I plugged into an amp. A whole world of possibility opened up to me and affected the way I listened to music forever. It was exciting. It was educational. It was FUN. As an instructor, this is what I hope to bring to each of my students. I love working with kids, and in my many years of experience as an instructor in both the private and classroom setting, I have found it to be very rewarding. Having been a student of guitar on more than one occasion, with multiple teachers, I have a lot of first hand experience knowing what worked for me and, and just as importantly, what didn't.

So what works?

 

Respecting the student's personal taste in music.

I always make sure that the goals I draw up for each of my students includes what they actually want to learn. Anything less would be unfair. I have a 50/50 approach to my lessons; half is devoted to working with a book, the other half is devoted to teaching the student what they want to learn.

Making sure the student learns the basics of music.

This includes learning how to sight read and other basics of music theory. Yeah, the so-called boring stuff! Only, it doesn't have to be boring. Music is an experience, and making a seemingly dull piece of sheet music exciting is my job. Without that kind of knowledge, a young student of guitar is going to have a hard time relating to the larger world of music. I would hate it if my students couldn't expand beyond playing "Smoke on the Water" because they never learned the basics. Whether a student chooses to follow the path to becoming a rock star, a jazz guru or a classical maestro, I'll make sure the right foundation is there.

Flexibility.

Working with younger students means they have busy lives between school, extracurricular activities, homework, chores, family and friends. I will do my best as an instructor to work with you, the parent, in the hectic world we live in.

Fun.

Besides the fact that learning a musical instrument teaches discipline and stimulates creativity, playing guitar is fun. Need I say more?

Performance.

While great satisfaction comes with playing guitar alone, there are few things more satisfying (as well as educational) as playing in front of an audience. It is one of the reason many of us learn an instrument in the first place. You can learn more in 30 minutes on stage than 30 days worth of practicing. My goal is to get my students in front of an audience, because there is more to guitar than running through scales in your bedroom.