Guitar Lessons in Santa Rosa, CA

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Bass Guitar Ukulele Music Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

A cheap guitar given to me by my parents for Christmas started this life in a direction that has formed me and sustained me for over twenty years. My love for the music is deep and true and it is, to me, still the greatest joy on the planet. Time stands still for me every time that I pick it up and play. I have become the music monk meditating on scales and chord substitutions, finding my balance with light strings and heavy rhythms. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Saxophone Flute Clarinet

I've blended my methods with a response to each student I work with by requesting their trust, listening to their places of comfort and interest in playing music, and discovering new avenues of development with the student. I encourage them to draw from those areas in our sessions as we develop our repertoire and enhance individual growth from there. For beginners I tend to start with either Standard of Excellence books or Rubank and build custom practices from there. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Keyboard Acoustic Guitar

For voice, I will typically start with technique and breath. The first lesson is heavy in feeling the anatomy of the body to cultivate a coordinated breath for the most optimal and healthy singing. From there, we move into warm-ups, and will adjust vowels to find resonant spaces. Generally, with the voice, after the initial work with anatomy there is an improvisatory style of teaching that I develop, catered to the individual. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar Double Bass

I have for the past twenty-two years been working as a Music Educator, Administrator, Jazz composer and performer. The last eleven of those years have been in the San Francisco Bay area at Oakland School for the Arts, teaching and leading large jazz ensembles, orchestra, small groups and music theory classes for grades 6-12. As Chairman of the Instrumental Music Department, I was responsible for teaching and developing music curricula, developing new programs, recruiting and auditioning new students, presenting and speaking with incoming parent groups, writing and developing the school A-G requirements, and meeting with community schools and faculty to create meaningful collaborations. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Music Electric Guitar Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar

For all of my students, I like to blend what they need to know and what they want to know. I find that especially teaching guitar, learning it is very goal oriented. My students and I always come up with their goals during each lesson so they can have something to work up to for each week. Practice does make perfect, so I do strongly encourage practicing at least a couple hours a day. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Electric Guitar Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar

My experience mostly stems from what I have learned through playing music for as long as I have been. I was able to learn all the steps to continue motivating my passion for guitar such as practicing frequently and consistently, gaining a large repertoire, and training my own ear to know where I am at all times when playing. I also gained much experience working at Guitar Center Lessons for a year. Read More