Music/Guitar Instruction

 I offer instruction on guitar and bass; music theory; composition; songwriting; arranging for solo and band performance; basic recording and engineering; basic live sound reinforcement, lighting, and repertoire.

Call or email for location and times .   Monday slots are available. $20/50 minutes.

I  teach how to arrange for solo acoustic guitar, using material from all instruments, and a variety of techniques [thumb pick, hybrid picking, articulated flatpicking,  five-digit fingerpicking and percussive approaches, and the right instrument and amplification] to create interesting, challenging and audience-pleasing repertoire....letting ears and intuition and heart direct the arrangement;   

I can help students tap into the place where their own music is playing in their heads. 

I use a lot of "Drop D" tuning, and can open up creative space for someone exploring potential there.

I can assist a student in developing solid rock and blues 'play with authority' electric guitar skills,  and teach bass guitar theory and application.

I prefer to instruct by having a student develop a REPERTPOIRE of tunes they would like to play and perform,  taking the student from whatever place they may be, and teaching him/her how to use those projects to advance their level and proficiency.....learning something new and challenging in every new song:  application  of knowledge is the key to retention of learned mechanics.  If a student isn't preparing for performance, gaining repertiore, what's the point of all the effort?

This technique seems to make the material learned stick in the brain, ears, and fingers.....ideas, techniques, and sounds to be used and played in song performance  throughout a lifetime.... and not just making catalogs of scales, chord-forms  or gobs of theory.... to be forgotten as quickly as they are acquired.  It doesn't matter how much you know:  it's "can you play?"  And you can make a lot of nice music playing a few things well, rather than a lot of things not so well.

I prefer to teach theory and mechanics a bite at a time, to be applied and remembered in a piece of music that the student plays.  If you want to know how to use the melodic minor from the 7th note to fit on an altered  II-7 / V7 /Imaj.....yeah, we can do that;  and I'd like to have you construct some nice lines, using that concept,  on a tune you'll be playing forever, to get the sound in your bones, before moving to the next thing.

I can assist with programs for improving sight-reading proficiency; chord/scale theory and application;  horizontal, standard vertical scales in 12 positions and more modern, three-octave symmetrical, horizontal scale patterns and modal application to changes;   assessing and applying conventional  composition and arranging approaches...from Bach to Beatles... to create interesting, aesthetic original composition;  exercises designed to wake up fingers and ears to new possibilities of motion and harmony.  

I instruct on basic recording techniques...including MIDI.... using my modest home-recording studio, addressing microphone applications, EQ, sound-treatment for rooms,  multi-tracking, mixing, and using mastering software to produce decent recorded work...bringing a beginner to a level of proficiency and familiarity with the process.

I like working with beginning students!

I don't insist on any one approach or method to achieve proficiency in performance;  whatever works to get there is the right way: one thing  great guitarists have in-common is that they all used different roads to achieve their successes.  And the type of music a student wants to play is the key to what I'll feed him or her.