Every musician was first and foremost a fan of music. My love of music began when my mother took me to a performance of Beethoven's fifth symphony when, coincidentally, I was five. From that point, I started fervently listening to my mother's records (those are the huge, black monstrosities that people in the pre-historic used in place of iPods), followed closely by my father's CD collection. After a while, this ravenous desire of to know and feel music moved me to play an instrument. After a couple of false starts with the drums and violin, I found my true musical calling: the guitar. On January 25th 1995, on a whim, I began playing the guitar, and I have yet to put it down. Along the way I've picked up a number of friends for my guitar, including the bass, the lute, the sitar and, once again, the drums. After only a few years of practice, I started playing professionally, in bands and solo guitar. Live playing experience, I believe, is the most important experience that any musician can have, in that, the most important part of music is how it sounds, and playing in front of people is the quickest way to learn how to play effectively. And this is what I teach; how to be a musician, not just a technician. *** Lesson Details *** A student can expect a curriculum tailor-made to their needs and personality. Every person learns differently and this is an important distinction in my teaching style. Some students need a strong hand to keep them working, others need to find many different ways to the same conclusion to keep them focused, while still others need a laid-back friend in order to accept knowledge. I stress rhythmic literacy, for, as my jazz teacher always said, "rhythm is king." If composition is important to you, then we'll focus on music theory, but if you're just wanting to learn how to play some fun rock tunes with your friends on the weekends, we can do that as well. As I stated before, we'll get you playing in front of people in no time. *** Travel Equipment *** I provide an amplifier, a loner guitar (if needed), staff and/or tablature paper, metronome, pens and paper for the lessons. *** Specialties *** Music theory and composition, guitar, bass, lute, beginner to intermediate piano Classical, shred, blues, and rock guitar; renaissance lute; blues, rock and slap bass; composition of many styles; world music.