Guitar Lessons in Rio, WI

Instruments: Guitar Trumpet

For all beginning students, I usually will take a lesson or two to assess where the student is at regarding music, depending on (if any) previous experience with music, e.g. piano lessons, etc. For trumpet students, I am not beholden to any one instructional method book. Usually, I will select whichever one I feel the student will be most successful utilizing. A couple of examples of method books I use are Standards of Excellence and Student Instructional Course. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Bass Guitar

I have taught from both the FJH and Berklee series of guitar and theory books. My lessons revolve around three parts: 1- Lessons from books of the appropriate level. We choose a book that suits the student, and there are weekly assignments from the book. 2- Theory work, usually focusing on the Blues form. My teaching of pop, rock, country, folk, etc. all goes back to the blues form. The music theory work also supports the students growing musical knowledge. 3- The student's choice of music. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Violin Cello Viola Bass Guitar Synthesizer Recorder Electric Violin Double Bass Conga Keyboard Electric Guitar Djembe

For beginning students, I usually start by creating a strong foundation in the student's mind of why they want to learn how to play an instrument and what goals, if any, they initially have for themselves. I then utilize this to help create individual based lesson plans that are driven by the inner workings of the student's mind. I incorporate music theory into every instrument at every skill level because I believe it to be something that is extremely important to understand and that not a lot of students are exposed to before they get to college. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar

For younger students, I tend to make learning the guitar more enjoyable and fun. Since younger kids need motivation, I prefer to let them play with accompaniment in order to make the lesson and their playing more enjoyable. For more advanced students, I believe that introducing them to variety of music styles is essential to build their musical personality and let them decide what style they want to learn. Finally, I encourage my students to perform in public, so they can build their confidence and realize the great outcome of their hard work. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Flute

I combine basic method books with added improv, pop tunes etc. that grabs the students interest and expands their musical world-view. I make it fun and get them out of the comfort zone of the book, by letting go and trying new things. I may have flute students improvise on the blues, and in the process teach them about the basic 12 bar blues structure, which is the foundation for all of pop music. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Drums Bass Guitar Keyboard Djembe Acoustic Guitar

My teaching style is very simple. With the fundamentals in place, it's possible to learn any song you want to. If there's a song that goes beyond a student's fundamentals, then that's what we'll learn next. As my music teachers told me, if you listen to a record and you find something on it that you don't know how to play, go back and learn how to do it! Listening and learning is essential to playing the music that you want to be able to play as quickly as possible. Read More