Guitar Lessons in West Berlin, NJ

Instruments: Piano Guitar Saxophone Organ Double Bass Keyboard

My own mentor was a tough guy... He would stand behind me, yell, shout and pound my shoulder. For sure, it is not for everyone. With most students, I take a calm and relaxed approach. As a child studying the classics, I remember teachers hitting my hand with rulers when I made mistakes. Jazz; however, is a creative art. It also requires making things up on the spot, so the most important skill is not to avoid mistakes, but to be able to recover from them. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Drums Bass Guitar Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion Conga Latin Percussion

For beginning students, I normally start with Alfred's Drum Method. This book works on the fundamentals of reading snare drum music and basic technique. Once the students grasps the basics on reading and playing with a metronome then we tend to move to Tommy Igoe's Groove Essentials (while still working on the Alfred's Method). After the student has began to play with the audio tracks and have succesfully gone through a few lessons from Groove Essentials then we begin to work on some solo repertoire and personal favorites as well. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Trumpet Bass Guitar

I first began teaching music in 2006 as the trumpet instructor at Silver Creek Central School where I directed trumpet master classes for high school students.I later took on various private students teaching trumpet, guitar, electric bass, improvisation, and arrangement composition.While earning my Master of Music at the University of the Arts, I served as the trumpet department intern and was responsible for teaching private trumpet lessons, preparing transcriptions for class materials and live performances, and proctoring music theory exams.Also at UArts, I was a teaching assistant for the Freshman Jazz Improvisation class for which I conducted sectionals, administered exams, and offered critiques regarding inventiveness of improvisations. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar Music Keyboard Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

I've been teaching since I was playing in bands in High School, helping my friends and those who were of interest, find themselves enjoying themselves by learning and playing the music that interests and drives them the most. This can come from learning songs and catalogues of artists in which are strongly admired and desired to play in the style of. I strongly encourage regular practice on playing your scales, triads and arpeggios, as well as exploring those concepts further into personal exercises catered to styles of music the student finds themself most interested in. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Voice Bass Guitar Harmonica Banjo Ukulele Music Keyboard Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

Because I teach a variety of instruments and styles, each of my lessons is completely customized to each student. While progressing towards a Masters of Education degree, I learned the absolute importance of addressing different learning styles, and working one-on-one with music students gives me the perfect chance to do just that. I develop materials that best address each students style, and prefer to explore music that each particular student personally loves. Read More

Instruments: Guitar

The number one question I asked my students is "what have you been listening to lately?" I find it very important to incorporate a students musical taste into the instruction. If we can gain the same musical progress working on a song they've never heard of, vs.something from one oftheir favorite bands...well, we are going to play the songthey like. Every lesson will end with a new andrealistic goal, and ultimately we will be working on givingthe studentthe tools to befacilitate theirown advancement. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Ukulele

For beginning students on instruments, I begin with a method book, usually Hal Leonard Essential Elements for Guitar and Ukulele, and Piano Discoveries for young beginning pianists, and Piano Adventures for older beginning pianists. From there, I follow my students' interests. For voice, we begin with breathing techniques and vocalizing, and then follow the student's interests from there. Read More