Matthew S  
Instruments: Guitar
Styles: Rock, Blues, Folk, R&B, Gospel, Spirituals

I have been a professional educator since 2008 and have worked at all levels from elementary, high school and college. I have been teaching guitar since 2015 and have focused on blues and jazz, though the majority of my performance experience is playing religious music. I have taught homeschooled children beginner and intermediate guitar in both private and group settings. I have also taught college students classic rock and blues style guitar. In addition to teaching and performing, I work in geriatric care facilities providing Music Therapy to hospice patients.

For any student that I teach, I always start by finding out the student's primary motivation and interests and then I develop the teaching style appropriate to their needs. Often times, beginning adult learners are simply interested in learning some songs so beginning with chord progressions to build up confidence and have them playing something recognizable within a few short lessons. For beginner students that are interested in theory, I typically start with the Major, Minor and Pentatonic Scales and then go into Chord Progressions in various Keys. Depending on the student's interests and skills, I will then go into the Circle of Fifths and Song Writing.