Bass Lessons in Maple Shade, NJ

Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar

For any new student, I believe the starting point must be why they are choosing to learn the guitar, or what excites them about trying to play. If a student wants to learn to strum chords to folk songs, than that's where we'll start, incorporating along the way the proper finger and hand techniques, as well as the appropriate level of theory knowledge needed to make the guitar an accesible system. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Drums Bass Guitar Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion Conga Latin Percussion Music Keyboard Electric Guitar Djembe Acoustic Guitar

As a music educator, my legacy will be to cultivate a life-long passion and appreciation for music within each and every student. Since I was a young child, music has been an integral part of my life. Ive had formal training and performed internationally and across the continental United States in an award-winning jazz band, Pennsylvania State Championship marching band, elite School of Rock House Band, symphonic bands, collegiate ensembles, orchestras, pit bands, pep bands and rock bands. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar Music Keyboard Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

I like to start with learning the Pentatonic scale in it's 1st position and show how it can be played in 5 positions based on the components of the scale being built on 5 notes, or intervals. We'll look at the C major/A minor scales on every string to show where all of the natural notes are on the individual strings and then expand upon playing them in modes, and move on to another key to show how these scale patterns are inter related with all 12 keys followed by learning the chord shapes in open and closed positions and how and where to utilize them in songs or in a blues/jazz sensibility. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar Electric Guitar Classical Guitar

I honestly and openly admit that when I first started taking guitar lessons (at age 13), I had struggled with many of the same things as a large percentage of my students do.   So unlike many other teachers out there, to whom guitar playing came much more naturally and easily, I can still truly understand the students' problems and offer my own insights and solutions to these problems. This is something that the other, more "naturally talented", teachers simply can not do - because they never experienced any of those problems themselves firsthand. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar Ukulele Lute Electric Guitar Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar

Then as we work towards learning songs we start to see an idea pop up in what we're working on. A light bulb goes off in the student's head and they say, "oh! that's this idea that we talked about last month!" Then that idea begins to grow, and it's not just from understanding the idea, but it's from seeing it in action - which seems to produce a stronger sense understanding and more retention. Read More

Instruments: Piano Bass Guitar Double Bass

I believe in tailoring music lessons to the individual students needs. This usually involves speaking with the student in the first lesson/lessons to find out what specifically they want to learn or improve. Once I've figured this out, I begin to find repertoire or create exercises that challenge this student in the respective area of focus. With younger students, I prefer to make an executive decision to begin with method books and then ease into more relevant material when the student is comfortable with their instrument. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar

For beginner students I use the Hal Leonard method to teach reading and positioning. Chords I teach at the pace the student is learning to play them cleanly (and this varies tremendously), starting with the easier open chords and moving on to progressively more difficult voicings. There are certainly some good beginner pieces in the hal leonard books and sometimes I pull recital material out of the William Leavit book. Read More