Guitar Lessons in Kansas City, MO

Instruments: Guitar Drums Bass Guitar Harmonica Electric Guitar Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar

What advice do you have about practicing effectively?
Set micro goals. It is much better to practice 10-15 minutes a day every day than spending 2 hours one day and not touching the instrument for a week. I love the quote, "miss practicing one day no one notices, miss two days, you notice, miss three days, your friends notice, miss four days, everyone notices!" Within those micro goals focus intently on one or a small number of things. If you have 10 minutes, spend 3 on technique, 3 on phrasing, and 4 on repertoire. To me, its all about consistency. Learning an instrument is not like riding a bike since there are so many more fine muscle skills and cognitive facilities being engaged.

How do I know if my child is ready to start lessons?
The youngest I would suggest would be age 6, but that is simply due to physical concerns, ie. hand size. I usually suggest piano is the best instrument to start with, but if a child finds the guitar to be interesting, there is no particular age range to start. It should be made clear to the child that they need to be ready to commit to at least a few months of lessons before they can give up. At this point, if a child wants to play, he or she will be motivated to learn, and

When will I start to see results?
Truly, within the first few days and weeks as a beginner. For more advanced students, it takes a little longer, but improvements can be measured by keeping a practice log that includes bpms for each exercise, and an inventory of songs, chords, scales that have recently been learned, etc.

Did you have a teacher that inspired you to go into music? How did they inspire you?
I had been playing guitar for a couple of years at this point, but when I started taking jazz lessons from my mentor, Brian Baggett, he opened my eyes and ears to so many new sounds I didn’t know were possible. In addition to learning music from him, he also had great philosophies on life that he shared with me. He made me feel as a peer more than a student, and was always happy to see me when I would come into giant music shop when I wasn’t there for a lesson. His approach really stuck with me, and I’ve tried to impart those positive feelings with my students.

Why did you choose your primary instrument?
The guitar never showed up on my radar before I was 15, but I picked it up purely out of necessity. I like to think the guitar chose me, rather than the other way around. I started a band I’m high school in which I was only going to sing in, but we learned early on that we would need a rhythm guitar player. I was tasked with this, taught a very simple type of chord, and sent on my way. When I took it home, I immediately fell in love with the instrument, and dedicated my life to the study of learning music.

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