Ryan F  
Instruments: Guitar, Bass Guitar, Music, Electric Guitar, Classical Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
Styles: Classical, Jazz, Pop, Rock, R&B, Musical Theater, Funk, Hip Hop, Electronic, Showtunes, New Age, Bossa Nova, Soul, Punk, Avant-garde

I have been a professional guitarist, composer, and instructor for the better part of a decade, and have years of extensive experience in performance, production, composition, and music theory. Over the years, I've written, recorded and performed on hundreds of songs for video game soundtracks, and have released personal projects in countless styles. I began teaching students around the time I was in high school, when I helped start up an after-school music pilot program to teach basic theory, guitar and piano to a students from a wide range of backgrounds and experience. As a composer, my music has been featured in interactive media projects around the world. These experiences have helped me develop a flexible range of skills and allowed me to see a beautiful cross-section of the vast world of music. As always, though, I'm still learning more every day, finding new ways to think about music, and trying to develop those ideas into teachable moments.

There is no one-size-fits-all way to learn music, and my methods are constructed with this in mind. At the fundamental level, I begin by focusing on ear training and the subtle human elements of music - dynamics, tone, and expression - so that my students have a solid framework. Listening to music on a visceral level and understanding what makes a musical performance interesting is critical for developing as an artist. For guitarists, for example, once they develop a solid connection with the basic methods of producing sounds on their instrument, the possibilities branch out enormously. I will approach much different theoretical topics with a student who wants to learn to play classical guitar etudes than one who wants to play modern, jazz and rock-influenced music, or someone who simply wants to learn to play country songs they like by ear. I create custom lesson plans that are tailored to my student's individual needs - I understand that no two musicians have exactly the same areas of interest, and so the first step is always determining what it is that my student wants to learn. I always try to incorporate my students' personal favorites into the repertoire they learn, and find ways to teach new concepts and techniques with music they already know and love, which I know from experience is the best way to make substantial progress as a musician.