Guitar Lessons in Vancouver, WA

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice

Each student is at a different level, and therefore requires different teaching methods. I like to implement the Hanon exercises for scales and warm-ups, also focusing on things like scales and arpeggios. For the guitar, I like to incorporate these concepts with chordal exercises as well, such as playing progressions to let the student's fingers grow accustomed to their forms. I then let the student tell me what his or her focus is, such as theoretical, classical, or popular. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar Synthesizer Music Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

Hello! I'm Kurt. I'm a passionate musician and instructor looking to spread the joy of music to all those who seek to learn it! For more than 10 years now I've been playing both guitar and bass. Though I never really thought of it as more than a hobby, after a few years of college music courses and over 7 years of private lessons, I realized somewhere along the line that I may have acquired enough skill to be more than a hobbyist. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Bass Guitar Ukulele

I generally split lessons into three sections, 1/3 with chords, 1/3 scales, 1/3 with songs, but every student is different, for example, If your goal is to strictly learn chords to sing folks songs over, I will emphasize more chord reading and learning time. If you want to play leads, I will spend more time emphasizing scales to help you learn how to improvise. There are also other excercises we can do like rhythm reading (just with clapping, no instrument) transcription/listening, and harmonic analysis. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Bass Guitar Ukulele Mandolin

There are so many ways to approach music - via reading music, improvising, composing, playing by ear, and I make sure to include them all over the course of my lessons with students. I encourage students to bring songs that they are interested in learning, and also provide plenty of material to get them on their way to undersanding how to navigate both their instrument, and music. I usually use the Hal Leonard method for guitar students learning to read, and the Faber piano method for paino students. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Drums Bass Guitar Ukulele

For beginning drummers I will often take a basic rock beat and break it apart, focusing on one piece at a time and then putting it back together. This gives us a foundation to work from to which we can later add rudiments, etc. For more advanced students I like to first look back and see if there are any techniques or skills that they have neglected as they progressed. Read More

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

I began teaching about five years ago. I mostly have taught younger students, and I love to watch them learn and develop a passion for music. I like to look for fun ways to keep students motivated. I like to use lots of humor while I teach because I think learning should be fun, and music is an amazing art. I work with people of all ages on my worship team, and I love helping both people young and old continue to grow their knowledge and love of music. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar Ukulele

Patience, as well as my depth of experience, are characteristics of my teaching style. I'm as happy as the student is when he or she achieves an understanding of a musical concept or mastery of a physical technique on the instrument. The achievement will reinforce more effort toward the next step, but it must be "relaxed" effort. "Slowly but surely" is my motto as the challenges become greater and the success sweeter. Read More