Deciding to take on guitar as a new interest? You won't regret it.

My beginner classes include having a good understanding of the basics and working

on your form.  Common for most beginners, holding the guitar the correct way may take a

a few days of practice.  This consists of posture, keeping your wrist straight, and correct

placement of your fingers on the strings.  After getting a grasp of the basics, we'll

jump into open chords and songs with a small number of repeating chords.  My approach to

introducing songs within the first or second lesson keeps things moving forward. While practice and

consistency keeps you progressing, playing simple songs and melodies will keep you

motivated.  

My beginner lessons are available to kids, teens, and adults of any age.

Some styles of guitar lessons I offer include: jazz, blues, fingerpicking, classical and more.

If you know your way around a guitar and are looking to get knowledge on higher level

compositions, theories and styles this is the right lesson plan for you.  We will

progress through high level songs and understand why they chose to execute it the

the way the musician did. We will also dive into lyrics, understanding what the song is really trying to convey. These lessons will be beneficial to you if

you are interested in being a music director, music teacher, and more.

Advanced guitar lessons are for students who have been consistently playing for

over 3 years.  

Some of my students are currently learning fingerpicking, bluegrass licks, and jazz improv.

Looking to take on a new instrument? Try piano and ukulele lessons!

Piano lessons are beginners only, and not for advanced students.  These will cover the

basic understanding of form, keys and melodies.  We will eventually work our

way up to playing songs I assign and songs you request to learn.

Ukulele classes are available to anyone interested.  Since it is a smaller instrument, this is usually appealing to younger kids.  It is fun to learn as a new hobby, or

to get a preface of what to expect with future guitar lessons.

Students looking to create their own songs can sign up for songwriting lessons.

We will cover everything from basic structure to how to make your song stand out.  

If you are more interested in singing, rather than writing your own songs, we can

skip that part and go straight to singing lessons.  I will assess the level you are currently

at in the first lesson and from there we can work together to match pitch, harmonies

and quickly move on to singing with instruments.

This is the right lesson plan for you if you are interested in learning the practices

and endless possibilities of music.  Music theory is defined as a study that looks into

detail of tuning systems, composition methods, and how artists get their work to the

final product.  This is a historical and research heavy lesson plan.

Once music theory is understood and we are ready to move on, we will jump into improvisation.

I have the most experience and knowledge in Jazz improvisation, but we can work on any

style that you'd like.  This makes you a stronger musician with a leg above the rest

by being able to improvise on the spot.  It is a skill that takes a lot of practice and

understanding.  Once you learn improvisation, you'll have a skill you'll never lose.  If you see improvisation music in your future, it's best to get started early.

Three fundamental basics for everyone just starting out on guitar: notes, chords and scales. 

The first step is understanding your fretboard better along with the basic open notes and which strings they belong to.  I reccommend starting out with Low E, A, D, G, B , High E.  

Second, chords are a bunch of notes played together on a certain set of strings. Learn the basic open chords (where to place your fingers) for the notes listed in the first step. 

Third, scales are an oraganized sequence of notes.  They can either be played in ascending or descending order, it's reccommended to practice both ways equally.

If you are just starting out on your own and would like to learn guitar from youtube for free, make your first set of video's relevant to the steps listed above. Do not jump ahead and try to understand reading music first, that can be done further down the line.  It will be easier to understand everything more complex later on when you understand the core principles first. 

Beginners on piano should understand these principles first: basic notes, half and whole steps, and finger placement. 

First step on piano should be getting familiar with the notes in front of you.  Study the C major scale which consists of the 7 notes in piano: C, D, E, F, G, A, B.  From here, the next step is the learn about the black notes in the middle of this scale and how to name them. 

Second, learn about whole steps and half steps.  This will help you understand later on the sequence of notes in other major and minor scales and why they are sequenced that way. 

Third, practice finger placement.  While everyone assumes your pinky is the weakest finger, it is actually your 4th finger that is the weakest.  Practice playing 5 white notes at with each finger with both hands.  Once your finger placement is strong, playing music will become easier.  

Learning how to  read music is very similar to learning another language.  It takes practice, and anyone can do it.  

How to read music 101 consists of the Trebel Clef and Bass Clefs. Understand the setup and factors in both to further progress into the more complicated aspects. 

In terms of scales and notes, guitar is easier.  Piano consists of 12 different scales that have to eventually be memorized, while guitar consists on 1 that is either ascending or descending. 

Besides my opinion, some people are naturally better at piano than guitar, and vice versa.  Learning one instrument makes it easier to learn multiple instruments, I recommend learning the one you enjoy more first. 

Yes.  A common miconception about learning how to play and instrument is that you have to had learned from a young age.  This is 100% not true.  My students range from 8 year olds to 60.  There is no age that cuts you off from learning how to play music.  

The only important factors are time and consistency.  Some students progress faster than others, and its very important to be aware of that fact.  In the same sense, some students can get the hang of strumming, finger placement, etc more naturally than others.  Regardless, to learn guitar, piano or any instrument, time and practice must be put in by every single student in order to learn. 

This depends entirely on the student. Even with no experience, some students progress faster than others. 

Yes! I have years of experience teaching students who are left handed. 

You can absolutely learn from youtube.   While it is free and accessible, a private teacher can work directly with you and what you're struggling the most with. If you are curious about trying out private music lessons, I offer 30 min lessons.

Absolutely, free apps to learn guitar are an excellent choice if private guitar lessons are not an option for you.  Try out Yousician or Garageband on Apple or Android.