Guitar Lessons in Springfield, PA

Instruments: Piano Guitar Drums Music Keyboard Electric Guitar

For beginner students, I often begin with the foundations of the instrument. For drums, we would be practice the rhythmic subdivisions (quarter, eighth, sixteenth notes) and slowly work them into grooves that they can easily start to pick out of their favorite songs. When the fundamentals have been established, we can learn more advanced grooves, dissect songs together, and learn how to improvise and write our own drum parts. My biggest focus as a teacher is to help the student discover the music that they want to learn and make so that they can develop their own unique voice. Read More

Instruments: Guitar

For children I tend to teach songs by The Beatles as standard curriculum, as well as learning to read music proficiently. The things tend to be non-negotiable unless the parent informs me otherwise. For teens and pre-teens reading music is optional as well as the types of songs you wish to learn or the theory you wish to learn. That's just a general overview, along the way we learn all types of riffs, vamps, chords, scales, etc., to which we follow my standard development method, but never neglecting your own personal interests in music. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Trumpet

I always start with what type of music the learner is interested in. This helps engage the learner so that the student comes from a comfortable place, and then we use the lessons from that music to apply and expand to other genres. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice

Each student has an individual connection with music, and therefore a teacher should be willing to adapt their methods in the best interest of each student. When working with a new student, I devote the first lesson to getting to know each other; the student's interest in music, their proficiency level (if they've studied in the past), their hobbies, Depending on that meeting we might choose to focus more on music theory, or ear training, or performance repertoire; whatever the student and I set as a goal for our work together. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Electric Guitar Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar

I work with one of three methods books: Mel Bay, Hal Leonard, or the Berklee Guitar Method. I gauge this based on the age, skill level, and their time available to practice. Mel Bay is the easiest method to begin, whereas Berklee is more advanced and moves at a faster pace. Sometimes I slow Berklee down and combine it with Mel Bay as a teaching strategy (Mel Berklee, perhaps?). I also am not afraid to use alternative teaching methodologies or notational systems, such as tablature and internet resources, as I think these are vital materials that are relevant to how people interact with, consume, share, and learn music today. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Saxophone Organ Double Bass Keyboard

Therefore, strong emphasis is placed on being able to become calm, relaxed yet thoughtful and imaginative when playing. I also believe that a lesson serves four purposes. 1) Learning 2) Modeling 3) Experimenting and 4) motivating. True learning; however, occurs between lessons, so the most important thing is to motivate students to want to practice between lessons. This is the most important challenge -- for this reason, no matter how intense the lesson gets, it is important that students leave the lesson feeling confident and good about themselves NO MATTER WHAT. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Drums Bass Guitar Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

I'm a very laid back teacher and I do my absolute best in making my students feel comfortable and also have fun while in the process of learning the art of music. I will give the students the tools they need to learn their instrument or instruments. I expect them to use the tools that were taught and practice at least thirty minutes per day and at least five days per week. Read More