Stanley A  
Instruments: Guitar, Lute, Music, Classical Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
Styles: Classical, Folk, Opera, Latin, Bossa Nova

My teaching experience is quite extensive and highly varied — so I will state the most important aspects in a mixture of short paragraphs and lists (for the sake of clarity). I have been teaching seriously and professionally since the age of 13. At that time, I was hired by several local private NJ Music Academy Schools (based on my reputation as a performer, and via “word of mouth” among the local guitar and musical communities). I was also already teaching privately due to demand from the members of of the Princeton and New Jersey Classical Guitar Societies. I was concentrating on classical students — but also taught folk, pop, rock, and jazz styles. I did this until the age of 16, when I moved to NYC to begin my Bachelors studies at the Manhattan School of Music under the legendary Manuel Barrueco. I taught both privately and at local NYC music schools during my Bachelors, Masters, and Doctoral years of study. I became the “guitar studies director” at the Bronx House Music School (during this period) and later became the Music School Director there, and the Music Director of the Mercy College Satellite branch (which offered college level music lessons and classes at the Bronx House Music School). While pursuing my Graduate Studies at MSM, I was a “Special Tutor” for both entrance and exit exams (history and theory) for the Doctoral Program; and taught guitar history & literature, guitar ensemble, and guitar pedagogy (as a graduate assistant). (I also was employed there as “editor-in-chief” of the college newspaper, and thesis proof-reader & editor for DMA theses (generally for foreign students—although my skills therein were also sought by students at Juilliard, NYU, Union Theological Seminary, and Jewish Theological Seminary.) Since graduation, and while (primarily) pursuing my concert career, I have been Director of Guitar Studies (Cumberland College); Professor of Guitar (The College of New Jersey); and most recently Artistic Director of the New York Classical Music Society (which I still am). Essentially, I’m an Artist-Teacher, who finds great fulfillment both on the concert stage, and, teaching serious and motivated students!

My “Teaching Methods” (or those which I employ) are based on the needs of the particular student. Each student is different, and hence, my method is essentially “pick and choose” depending on the talents, needs, and advancement of the student. For complete beginners, I use a selection of publications from Gendai Guitar (Japanese method book), Frederick Noad (Classical Guitar Playing Volumes 1 & 2; his three volumes based of historical periods: Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical respectively); tried-and-true Historical Methods (Carcassi, Aguado, Padovec, etc.). Once a student becomes intermediate to advanced, my focus is “Composer Based” — concentrating on a composition of Bach, then perhaps a Latin American piece (Villa-Lobos or Ponce for example); then some Renaissance Lute music (Francesco DaMilano or John Downland); a Contemporary work exploring Atonality or 12-tone techniques, etc. Essentially the student needs to be broadly instructed across Five Centuries of Music, and what each period requires!