Guitar Lessons in Castle Hill, NY

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice

I think voice especially has always been viewed as a bit of a mystery... you can't see or touch your voice as you sing, unlike playing instruments, so there's a certain amount of imagination that has to be involved. I do my best to straddle making singing as tangible as I can, and approach things somewhat scientifically ("This muscle is used in this way," etc.) while also inspiring visualization ("Send your sound out into the distance," etc.) I also really think it's important for musicians to be diverse, so not only will we learn chord and strumming patterns on a guitar, we'll also learn how to read simple lead lines of solos, etc. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar

During the 1980s, Stuart played with the infamous Punk legend, Dean Johnson, in Dean and the Weenies. In 1990, he joined the band known as The Rakes Progress which recorded for Almo/Geffen Records. The Rakes Progress was featured on Late Night with Conan OBrian, MTVs 120 Minutes, and Beavis and Butthead and toured through the United States, Canada and Europe. At the present time, Stuart writes music, records, and performs with Barnacle Bill and Streams of Whiskey. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Saxophone Flute Clarinet Bass Guitar Recorder

I use what some have called the target approach. With this method you are working on one concept at a time, and you should always have one concept in mind while you practice. Some examples of beginning concepts are 1) keeping a steady beat, 2) sound quality, or 3) smooth finger technique. In one practice session using the target approach you may spend 10 minutes on target 1) and 15 minutes on target 2). What is important, however, is that you continue to work on a target every day until you find yourself performing that single concept flawlessly and effortlessly. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Ukulele Music Electric Guitar Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar

I tailor my lessons to the needs and levels of every student. I like to keep an organized electronic folder with PDFs for every student. Handouts on every specific topic are included in these hand-outs, some scanned hand-written exercises that I design for each student and some others extracted from books on different topics. Some books are suggested but I don't follow any single method although I find it very useful the Modern Method For Guitar by William Leavitt, the different books by Barry Galbraith for more advanced students, and The Jazz Conception series Read More

Instruments: Guitar Latin Percussion Music

For beginning students who are children, I typically start with Alfred's Basic Piano Course for piano students. Once the student has progressed to have a grasp of the fundamentals, I will begin to introduce solo repertoire appropriate for their first recital performance. For adults, I try to find out what the student is interested in, and guide my instruction accordingly to keep the lessons engaging and fun, no matter their ability level. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Drums Organ Synthesizer Recorder Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion Conga Latin Percussion

My main areas of expertise are in voice, songwriting and composition, improvisation, contemporary piano and synthesizer performance, recording your own music, and ear training and theory. I love to teach because I have to teach. My philosophy is if you believe you are born with a special gift, you are obligated to give and teach the ways of this gift to people who strive to understand it. In other words, music is my passion and the one thing I've been able to do my entire life, and creating it gives me tremendous joy. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Violin Cello Viola Bass Guitar Synthesizer Double Bass Music Keyboard Acoustic Guitar

I have been teaching privately since 1989, teaching piano and bass at 15 years old. Thirty years later I have become a multi-instrumentalist playing Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass, Electric Bass, Latin Baby Bass, guitar, piano, synthesizer, keyboard and voice. I have a vast knowledge of classical and modern works and am comfortable transcribing modern compositions for my students. Music is my life and I teach with an infections optimism for all things music. Read More