Guitar Lessons in Downtown, MN

Instruments: Guitar Electric Guitar Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar

The methods and approaches I use depend greatly on the student and their needs. The most important thing for me is to find repertoire that addresses the students needs and interests. For classical guitar students, there are a variety of methods that I regularly utilize (Julio Sagreras, The Royal Conservatory Series, Suzuki Guitar Method, Charles Duncan), and often supplement with other pieces/etudes. For other styles, I build lessons around playing music that the student is interested in, and include technical and musical exercises when needed. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Drums Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion Conga Latin Percussion Music Keyboard Electric Guitar Djembe

Whatever type of music they are interested in playing, I find several examples to pull from that and use it as teaching material and relate it back to our foundational training. This keeps our lessons fun, engaging, and rewarding. For Drum set, I teach from Tommy Igoe's "Groove Essentials 1.0/2.0" and John Riley's "The Art of Bop Drumming". I encourage students to perform a recital but I like to stretch the definition of a "recital". Read More

Instruments: Guitar Voice

I tailor my lessons to each individual student and go from where they are at to build off of that and expand their skill set. For more advanced students I encourage them to keep themselves challenged by choosing to learn songs that are of increasing levels of difficulty as they advance. This often includes songs that are in other languages. Another challenge opportunity I encourage them with is to learn a song that pushes their boundaries and is different in some way from songs that they typically perform. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar

I have amassed a catalog of handwritten materials over the years, as well as some books and exercises from my old teacher. There are a few exercises from the essential elements book that I like to use with beginners, but not enough to warrant purchasing the book. I provide photocopies of all the lessons, as well as supplemental videos in some cases. I use videos or audio recordings to supplement my lessons to help the student practice during the week when i'm not around. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar Double Bass French Horn

For beginning horn students I use the Rubank method as well as my own combination of etudes. Once the student has a solid understanding of the fundamentals a regimine of solos and etudes will be assigned, followed by the standard solo repertoire. For bass and guitar students I have my own method book that focuses on music theory, technique, as well as improvisation. I strongly believe in adapting my materials and method to best suit the student and the students need, I will work to help you achieve your goals! Read More

Instruments: Guitar

I began teaching during my time in college. I have been teaching private lessons for over 5 years now and have seen a huge improvement in all of my students. I encourage a regular practice schedule and assign weekly studies for the guitar. I encourage all my students to learn to read music but have also found that having them learn with their ear can be beneficial. My main concern is that the student becomes passionate about the guitar. Read More

Instruments: Guitar

For beginng students i like to start with Hal Lenords guitar 1 book and progress from there. I like to start kids with reading notation and little melodies cause it will help them in the long run. As they progress we will move to more advanced methods. I also use books when teaching such as guitar 1 to 3 it helps students learn how to correctly play rhythms as well as read music notation. Read More