Steve D  
Instruments: Guitar, Bass Guitar, Electric Guitar, Classical Guitar
Styles: Classical, Pop, Rock, Folk, Country, Funk, Electronic, Reggae, New Age, Punk

I teach primarily guitar lessons. I have been teaching guitar lessons since Jan 2003. I am formally trained, know extensive music theory, and can read (and will teach, if desired) standard notation (a.k.a. "sheet music"). I have played in all kinds of bands for over 2 decades (rock, metal, classic rock, pop, funk, reggae, disco, oldies, and more). I know literally thousands and thousands of songs. Even though there are many guitar players out there with much stronger technical skills and agility than myself, I am honestly one of the best guitar teachers out there. I say this for several reasons: For one, because I have had numerous students tell me that out of multiple previous guitar teachers they had in the past, I was the only one who ever explained it in a way that made sense to them. Also, with most other guitar teachers, they had "natural" talent and it came much easier to them than it did with me, so they didn't have to struggle nearly as hard as I did. So because I had struggled with many of the same things as a large percentage of my students do, I can still truly understand the problem and offer my own insights and solutions to these problems, which other more naturally talented players simply can not do because they never experienced any of those problems themselves firsthand. A third reason is because I have a knack for explaining things, no matter how complex, in very simple terms and break down the seemingly complex stuff into tiny pieces which they can grasp and master. A fourth reason is because I am completely flexible with my lessons, teaching exactly what the student (or parent) wants (them) to learn, anything from the standard traditional approach (i.e reading music) to the rock approach just teaching them how to play their favorite songs, which I figure out by ear on the spot from the recording which the student asks me to listen to. Add to all that, I am very patient, friendly, humorous, approachable and humble/modest in demeanor, where many other teachers have a huge ego and "God complex", where they talk down to the student and make them feel uneasy and overly self-conscious. As I have been a lead singer and studied voice formally for a number of years, I have taught voice on occassion (rock only). But since my voice has not been up to par for some time now, I no longer will teach any voice students.