Guitar has to be FUN!  It also has to be interesting and challenging.  If one is not enjoying the instrument and having fun with it, you will eventually give up.  Likewise if music stops being interesting and challenging you will give up.  As a teacher, part of that responsibility lies in my methods of teaching. At the same time it is my responsibility to guide you, the student, in the right direction towards your goals in music.

If you have never picked up a guitar, then we will discuss the types of music you currently enjoy and some of the goals you would like to strive for.  If you have already been playing, one of my first duties (in addition to the types of music you enjoy) is to assess your playing and style.  We also discuss music that you may have not thought about.  Peoples taste change over time and as their development in music increases, so does their goals on the instrument.

My lesson plans have been developed over the years to keep you interested, wanting to learn more, give you confidence that you can accomplish the next step, and at the same time make it FUN!   The basic underlying goal here is to MAKE MUSIC not Exercises!

My lessons have the correct balance between learning new material (some of which will be quite challenging at first) and playing guitar just for the fun of playing it.  The new material is always incorporated into previous lessons thereby giving the student small easy to handle steps that become big successes.

Many schools of thought (which I am in agreement) divide music into 3 main areas:

1. Harmony:  The study of combining notes or tones (chords for a VERY simple example).  It is the backbone of all styles of music as we know it.

2. Melody: Where harmony is combining notes, melody is a succession of musical notes (tones) in a linear movement combining pitch and rhythm.   (Think single note soloing – lead guitar playing)

3. Rhythm:  Takes Harmony and Melody (combined or separately) and puts a regular recurring motion to the music.  (For now think of strumming / finger picking chords in a regulated beat).

My lessons incorporate all of the above in one way or another with the intention of keeping the material interesting, challenging and the desire to keep moving forward.

One last comment,,,.

Reading Music: I am a proponent of reading music.  While to many this might be a very boring subject I have found ways to make reading FUN (or at least interesting)!  To me reading music is like learning to read English.  It doesn’t matter what you are reading as long as you are reading!  Same with music; why read a piece of music that is uninteresting to your ear when we can accomplish this skill with music you enjoy hearing? Reading music is the way the musician communicates.