Guitar Lessons in Harrison, NY

Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar Ukulele Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

I have been teaching in the areas of greater New York City and Long Island for the last 12 years. Making a student's musical aspirations has always been a great source of joy for me. Mainly, I focus on building a student's repertoire of his or her favorite music, so that practice can be a source of expression and actualization instead of obligation and drudgery. Once the student has started exploring their musical preferences, we can continue developing perfect technique, as well as practical improvisation and theory. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Bass Guitar Double Bass Keyboard Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

I have a variety of books I use for beginning students, depending on age and level, including the Alfred guitar book for kids. Regardless of level, I always help students learn some music they are already interested in, as that is a key path to enjoying both the pure joy of music itself and the delight of learning something you didn't know you could do. Another important pathway that I explore with students, earlier or later depending on the student, is to begin to learn to improvise and compose their own music. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Drums

With my educational background and passion for music it would be difficult to find another instructor with more depth.I have taught guitar for over 20 years to students ranging in ages from 6-60. I have performed with and coached multiple bands, ensembles, soloists, and private students and I have loved every minute of it. In my experience I have found that, with the right instructor, exploring a wonderfully dense topic such as music heightens discipline, motivation, focus, confidence, and sensitivity. Read More

Instruments: Guitar

For beginner students I start with chord shapes. We'll learn what notes are in the chord, where to find the root note of the chord everywhere on the fret board and how to play that chord in multiple postions. Then we work on switching chords in basic progressions and later we move onto scales. For my intermediate students its more about technique and theory. We'll focus heavily on scales and modes and their relationship to each other. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Drums Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion Keyboard Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

For beginning students, I typically begin with a deep dive on rudimental studies and keyboard skills on drums and mallet percussion. I gradually introduce notation and music literacy tools to improve the students understanding of how the fundamentals of music interact with one another. I use a lot of rote teaching methods as well to take full advantage of how physical percussion and drums can be. I find that students interests will quickly guide me to making suggestions for different repertoire to take on as the student is ready. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Voice

I have taught music for ten years: two in elementary music, the rest in middle school. I currently conduct individual voice lessons with students interested in auditioning for performing arts high schools, most of whom have been accepted! I also direct my school's Choir and Musical Theatre productions. I have held private voice lessons for children and teens for the past five years, working mainly with classical and musical theatre repertoire. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar Music Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

My goal as a teacher is to avoid any type of dogmatic "one size fits all" curriculum.  I always want to know what music the student enjoys and build my lesson plans based on their tastes.  Chords can be physically challenging for beginners so I like to work with single-note melodies early on so that the student isn't quickly discouraged.  Learning chords becomes the medium-term goal.  As for the long-term, I will then use specific songs as examples for how music theory works in the context of their favorite bands. Read More