Definitely. I love teaching children as young as eight years old and have a ton of youth students. Watching kids grow and learn an instrument is one of the most rewarding parts of being a teacher. I hold two recitals a year so the kids can perform for their family and friends.
Beginners are my favorite! I’ve worked with so many beginners that I have very fool-proof plan to get them playing their favorite songs within months. Beginners make great students because they have no previous experience, so they have nowhere to go but up.
Your guitar, your music binder and a positive attitude. That last one is mandatory.
I recommend you go to Rock N’ Roll Rentals. They have an excellent selection of guitars for rent at excellent monthly prices. They’ll even rent you a case!
I teach out of the studio I have built in my home at 6000 Laird Drive in North Austin, TX. It’s about 5-10 minutes from downtown near the intersection of Burnet and Koenig.
Currently, I am charging $90 for each hour long lesson and $50 for each half-hour lesson.
Your first lesson will act an as assessment of your current skill level. We’ll also spend some time getting to know each other. I think it’s important to have a good report between teacher and student. If you’re a total beginner, great! We’ll cover a lot of the basics and give you a strong foundation. However, if you’ve played before, I need to get a good estimation of where you stand. I’ll probably ask you to play a tune or two you know. From there, I’ll be able to get a good idea how to proceed.
I’m afraid not. You’d have to pay for the time I spend traveling to your location, and if even if you could, I wouldn’t want to do it. I’d much rather teach in my studio. On top of that, I have a wealth of resources at my studio that can’t travel with me, like all of my books and my database of music. Those are integral parts of the lesson.
Yes, if you want to learn it. Please understand you do not need to learn music theory in order to play guitar. But if you want to learn it, I would love to teach it to you. Understand that a lot of this learning will be done with a pen and paper before we apply it to the guitar. And you’ll need to learn to read a bit of music. I’ve just found that this is the best way to learn it.
Yes, again, IF you want to learn to read standard notation. You can get by just fine on the guitar with out learning to read music. But if you are the kind of person who wants to take your playing to the next level, I’d be more than happy to teach it to you.This is one of the few subjects I will teach directly out of a book, simply because there are a couple of great books on the subject.
I’ve had mixed success with this in the past. Before doing so, please make certain the recipient is willing and available to take lessons. I’d rather not have you buy a set of lessons for someone only to find out they don’t want to take them or will have trouble making the time. Also, while you may wish to purchase a month worth of lessons for someone, a student should be prepared to commit to at least six months of regular lessons in order to see meaningful results.
I’ve studied and taught most contemporary styles including pop, finger-style, chord/melody, rock, country, jazz, blues, funk and R&B. The only styles for which I would recommend you go to another teacher would be classical or flamenco guitar. While those are styles I have studied, they require a certain curriculum, pedagogy and approach you can only get from someone who teaches them exclusively.
I teach guitar up to a level required of an undergraduate college audition. I have helped multiple students prepare for college auditions, which they passed. I love jazz and chord melody, have taught finger-style blues, neoclassical guitar, metal and my specialty is tapping. I have a wealth of technical exercises to get your fingers limber and all the theory knowledge you’ll ever need. If you show up to an introductory lesson and I decide your playing has advanced beyond the level which I have developed curriculum, I will happily refer you to an instructor who I feel can better serve you.
Oh yeah. I love that stuff! A lot of quality improvisation comes down to knowing the basic scales, having the necessary technique and then developing “vocabulary.” Vocabulary is basically an arsenal of licks and ideas from which to draw. Through my own experience, I developed a strong method to help you grow that arsenal.
Simply go to the “Book A Lesson” tab and set up a time.