Bass Lessons in Kingston, MA

Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar

I'm a rather relaxed individual, and I don't like making my students feel pressured into achieving a specific goal in a strict manner. My attitude allows students to accept mistakes as part of the journey of guitar playing, while at the same time understanding that it is the correction of mistakes and discipline to play correctly that segways into higher level playing, and that the ultimate drive behind guitar playing is the passion to learn and expand their horizons either by attempting new techniques or ideas, or simply being exposed to new types of music. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Drums Bass Guitar

Every lesson is wrapped up with an obtainable goal for the next week.  This will entirely depend on the student's level and individual goals for the instrument. Everyone has the end product in mind when it comes to learning an instrument.  When someone picks up a Guitar, the learning process is not the first thing they think of: they think of the stage and sounding like their heroes. I'm here to remind all my students that there should never be an end; music is a never ending journey! Read More

Instruments: Bass Guitar Double Bass

Beginning students are taught to read bass clef and are given introductory exercises to familiarize them with the strings and fingerboard. From there, I begin to teach more advanced music theory to build off of the established foundation. Some of the books I use for theory study are the Real Books and Dover Music's Bach Keyboard Music for jazz and classical theory respectively. Additional materials for intermediate and advanced students include Oscar Stagnaro's Latin Bass Book, Jimmy Haslip's Melodic Bass Library, and the Charlie Parker Omnibook depending on the student's genre of interest. Read More

Instruments: Saxophone Clarinet Bass Guitar Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

I have always felt such a deep sense of satisfaction when a student finally nails a difficult tune or passage, or is introduced to something in music that blows their mind. Nothing is better than inspiring a student to grow and progress, and that has always been at the core of my teaching style. I always want to strike the balance between constructive criticism and praising accomplishment in our lessons, as I understand that realistically not everyone wants to play music professionally. Read More

Instruments: Bass Guitar Double Bass

I have been a professional touring and recording musician for 40 years. I have toured and played with such diverse bands as Ministry,Jane Wiedlin(The Go Gos),Aimee Mann,Susan Tedeschi,Johnny Winter,Iggy Pop,Roomful of Blues,Ben Orr,Ric Ocasek and Elliot Easton(The Cars). for the past six years a member of the Duke Robillard Band including multiple world tours and recordings. I have been on over 100 released recordings in my career. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Bass Guitar Electric Guitar Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar

For beginning students I prefer to use either Alfred's, Mel Bay, or Hal Leonard method books. I generally stay away from method books that use guitar tablature because I find that student will prefer to read the tablature instead of standard musical notation. Tablature is a good way to easily show how guitar parts are played, but is not useful when teaching standard notation, music theory, harmony, etc. In addition to using a method book, I will also teach the student popular songs, which is a great way to start teaching chords and song structure in addition to keeping the lesson fun and the student engaged. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

My teaching style ranges based on the needs of each student, but I consistently make sure to work towards challenging, but achievable goals with a clear, step by step, and enjoyable path towards them. I do this because I've seen far too many other instructors either overwhelm a student, or bore them to death. Both of which are the two most common reasons for why someone gives up an instrument. Read More