Guitar Lessons in Montclair, NJ

Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar

I'm new to teaching on this level, but I do have some prior experience, most notably a paid tenure teaching a family friend for a summer. My student was very young and a novice, so I primarily utilized both formal methods for the understanding of fundamentals of music theory and technique, though I also helped her learn to play a few popular songs at her request. Letting students pursue their own personal interests in music in addition to teaching them the fundamentals is important to me, but with more experienced students I generally tend to focus more on improvisation and harmony as opposed to sightreading. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Violin Flute Clarinet Bass Guitar Harmonica Banjo Ukulele Mandolin

Every new student comes to their first lesson with particular skills and musical interests. My job is to assess the students abilities and lead them down the appropriate paths to achieving their musical goals. My goal is to cultivate musicianship.  Students are encouraged to develop technical skills as a means of creative and emotional expression.  Sight reading and improvisation are taught simultaneously with music theory and composition. Through individualized lessons and ensemble experience, students are encouraged to reproduce and create music as early as possible. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

For all beginning students , I typically start with Mel Bay's Guitar Method and Hal Leonard but I also like to throw in some of my own personal lessons that can help students grow faster. Once the student has good understanding and grasp of the fundamentals, My student and I will both decide on repertoire that they can play according to their abilities. For adults or more advanced players, I try to find out what their interested in playing. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar Music Electric Guitar

While students arrive to my lessons with an array of different skills, I always make sure they have the fundamentals of music down; such as keeping a consistent rhythm and ensuring the notes choices are harmonically pleasing and intentional based on the piece. Making sure the student is learning what they enjoy learning as well as what I feel are the necessary next steps to improve their skills are essential in the learning process no matter what age the student is. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Bass Guitar Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

I started teaching 7 years ago at the beginning of my college career and I have been teaching consistently ever since! I've had students from ages 4 to 60+ and taught individually, group lessons, and group classes. I began taking weekly private lessons while in elementary school and have had all kinds of teachers throughout my career as a musician; I truly value the music student to teacher relationship and kinds of lessons one experiences when studying music whether it's life lessons such perseverance, determination, patience, and acceptance or purely musical. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar Ukulele Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

In-demand NY session musician, teacher, and musical director Pete O has studied with many of the world’s top bass players. In addition to his independent studies at Berklee Music school, Pete has had the pleasure of studying with industry legends such as Victor Wooten, Chuck Rainey, Anthony Wellington, Adam Nitti, and Matt Garrison. Pete’s highlights include opening the Gathering of the Vibes festival in upstate New York, featuring James Brown, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Gov’t Mule, and the Allman Brothers. Read More

Instruments: Guitar

My style is largely theory and hard technique based. I know that every student is very different and will have a different optimal technique. Whether that means I need to teach a rock student fingerstyle or hybrid picking to master a song with fast arpeggiations, or maybe figure out that someone with small hands must move their left thumb down a little bit to hit a cross-neck chord in a classical song, for instance, I personally believe that everyone is going to play a little differently to achieve the same results. Read More