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Carolyn
Ahmad is an extraordinary teacher and musician. His patience, insight, knowledge and talent know no bounds. Aside from a keenly intelligent approach to teaching, Ahmad has a way of helping his students discover a true passion for music. He has immense respect for his students, and he wants them to succeed. He manages to help them understand the fundamentals while allowing them to explore their creativity and realize their potential. My son spent only a couple of years training with Ahmad, and he still regards him as one of the most influential people in his life. He taught him, he listened to him, he believed in him, and he contributed to his lifelong dedication to music. Whether you are a beginner or an accomplished musician, learning from this amazing guitarist is the best thing you can do for your pursuit of music!
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Tracy L
I was fortunate enough to take lessons with Ahmad years ago and I can say he is the most committed and focused guitar teacher I have ever had the pleasure of working with. I've sorted through more than a few. When I returned to the area after a few years in a job out of state I very quickly looked Ahmad up and began working with him again. I believe he has a real skill at determining what his students need to focus on to arrive at their goals and he is equally adept at presenting the material in the right amount at the most beneficial time. His instruction bolstered my confidence as a musician and enabled me to achieve longstanding goals of playing with other musicians, in key and on time;) it is also very clear that teaching guitar is Ahmad's passion and I found that very important, it's what he does for a living sure, but his dedication is rooted in something deeper and it shows. There are many tips, licks, and tricks instructors out there and that can be fine, but a true teacher is rare indeed. If you follow his lead he'll make you better.
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Rachel M
Ahmad is such a fabulous teacher!!! Super organized, always *always* keeps me on my toes, all while being incredibly kind, patient and encouraging. He's always got several ways to teach me the material, so when I am struggling there's another angle I can make progress in. So glad I found him, I have learned so much!
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William H
As someone who has played guitar for over ten years and taken lessons from several other accomplished guitar teachers, I can safely say that Ahmad is the best guitar teacher I've taken lessons from.
He determines what you hope to take away from the lessons and what your goals are as a player and is very dedicated to finding a way to get you there that is both educational and enjoyable. His instruction is very flexible and has no hesitation dropping one exercise and focusing more on styles of learning that are suitable for you as a student.
For someone who has been playing for a long time he was quickly able to open up a whole new set of possibilities and refresh the instrument for me as well as better my understanding of music harmony and melody in general.
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Brent K.
I have been taking lessons with Ahmad since June 26th, 2011 - I was referred by a mutual acquaintance. I bought myself a guitar for my birthday a year ago and realized I needed some outside motivation to play it. While I'm relatively new to guitar and this is my first time taking guitar lessons, I have been drumming for 13 years with private instruction and university courses. I would highly recommend Ahmad. He is inspiring, professional, informative, and patient; a shining example of what a great teacher should be.
Over the past five months, I've already seen significant improvement in both my guitar performance as well as my understanding of the guitar and music in general. Ahmad is very good at balancing the scale between creativity and technique, while never losing sight of what your goals are as a student. As with any learning process, I would suggest you understand your own goals and level of commitment before jumping in to lessons. As I've seen, Ahmad will probably motivate you to practice more than you originally thought, which I really appreciate. It's with practice and strong understanding that I've gotten to a point where I am proud of my abilities on the guitar. Work with Ahmad and I hope you find the same!
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Shawn D
I started taking guitar lessons for the first time 10 months ago and am thankful I found such a great teacher in Ahmad. His positive attitude and love of music helps me stay engaged and lessons are productive and fun.
One of the great things about Ahmad is he listens to you and adjusts lesson content based on the feedback you provide. His ability to listen allows Ahmad to deliver a personalized lesson plan that incorporates your goals and gets you excited about what you are working on.
Ahmad also has taught me techniques to prevent and address minor aches that come up while learning to play. He takes this seriously and shows you how to prevent and resolve any issues that come up.
Overall, taking lessons from Ahmad has been a very positive experience. I look forward to continuing working with him to get better.
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Stephen
I have been taking guitar lessons with Ahmad Since 2011. Music has always been important to me and my lessons with Ahmad have been a continual source of inspiration and joy. I love Ahmad's musical philosophy and regardless of what I'm interested in he is always able to help me better myself. I continue to be very busy in my life but always find myself coming back to music. Through taking lessons with Ahmad I have been able to achieve many of my musical goals and know that if I keep practicing I will be able to achieve even more of my goals.
Ahmad is extremely talented, intelligent, and friendly and is always there to support me in whatever new musical concept I wish to learn next. He can help anyone looking to better themselves in a wide variety of areas regardless of the style of music you are interested in. I have been studying jazz with him primarily, as my goal is to be able to write my own music and put together a band some day. I have no intention of stopping music lessons with Ahmad as they continue to be something I look forward to every week. Anyone would be lucky to have such a great teacher.
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JB L
I strongly recommend Ahmad as a guitar teacher for all skill levels. I am highly satisfied with the music content and his clear, accessible teaching style. I also play clarinet and piano for the fun of it, and can read music, but the guitar has its own unique rewards and challenges. I love anything that has to do with the guitar, and Ahmad thoughtfully passes on information about players, recordings, gear, and websites that he feels might be of interest or use to me. Ahmad customizes each of my biweekly lessons to my current level of understanding and practice. As a result, I have steadily made progress. So far, we have covered basic rhythms and playing technique, scale patterns in preparation for playing lead and eventual improvisation, chord forms, including barre chords, and songs that are challenging to play, but in a motivating, not discouraging, way. Two things that struck me right off in studying with Ahmad is that, one, he really emphasizes practicing and playing music in proper time, which is crucial to playing well with other musicians, amateur or professional. The other thing is that he strongly urges students to practice in between lessons, which leads without fail to better playing and musicianship. With Ahmad, I am motivated to practice at least 15-20 minutes per day, 3 or more days per week. Also, he is quite patient with questions or challenges I may have with a lesson, and thoroughly addresses them before we move on. I'll close with how impressed I am with Ahmad's musical knowledge and guitar mastery, Over the years, he has developed an extremely comprehensive system of teaching harmony, and for me, it is the perfect approach to advancing my understanding of chords, scales, and the art of improvisation.
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Randy Townsend
Ahmad is very patient and focuses on creating good habit patterns when learning the guitar. I had never played this instrument before, although I had 50 year experience playing others. I thoroughly enjoy his lessons. He is quick to respond to questions via email. He is superb.
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Randy Townsend
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Gregory M
I started taking classes with Ahmad about 18 months and have made steady progress on my technique as well as my understanding of music in general. Outside of being an outstanding guitar player, Ahmad has developed a truly effective teaching method that can accommodate students at any level of expertise. Good for me since I was a beginner when I started. So we started with the basics of rhythm & timing and I got the help I needed there. So eventually we moved into lead guitar techniques and harmony in general. I should note that I am in my early forties and thus have limited time to practice. Because of Ahmad's approach, I have been able to maximize my practice time by focusing on the exercises and techniques that are most important. I would also like to mention that Ahmad is very patient with me and easy to work with. It's been a blast working with Ahmad, I really enjoy practicing the material and experiencing steady improvement in my playing.
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Tom
Ahmad is Awesome! Lessons are a must. Before I started lessons, I would find tabs online and it was fun but I was wasting my time. I wasn't progressing and I didn't have any concept of timing and other essential basics. As a result, I was playing the proper notes but I wasn't playing them correctly and I couldn't improvise at all.
Ahmad takes difficult concepts and breaks them down into small, easy to understand pieces. Harmony concepts that I thought I wouldn't be able to grasp, I understand fully and use every day. He has a ton of tips that make learning so much faster. For instance, you learn how to find any note on the neck quickly without having to memorize the whole neck, which is crucial skill. Another great thing is that he uses tablature in his lessons. So, you don't have to know how to read music to get started.
If you ever want to write your own music or play with other people, call Ahmad now. He will make sure you learn the right way. I'm writing music and playing/improvising solos, at a level I thought I would never be able to achieve. Every lesson opens new possibilities.
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Jack Y
Ahmad is an amazing teacher to say the least!! I've playing guitar for years with never a full grasp of harmony, and within a few short hours he caught me up on some of the most vital information I was missing. A true expert teacher.. Give him a chance... You won't be disappointed!!!
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Lydia H
I started taking lessons with Ahmad over 5 years ago as a wee beginner. Looking back at where I started, I'm surprised at how much progress I have made and have learned more than I ever expected to.
It is obvious from the start that Ahmad is not only an phenomenal guitar player, but also, and more importantly, displays a strong passion and dedication for teaching. Each lesson is carefully designed and structured to build off of techniques previously learned and Ahmad has a knack for making even difficult concepts easy to digest. He imparts simple tips and tricks, mined from years of experience, that have helped me master techniques and avoid tedious memorization exercises which would have made the learning process agonizingly painful. Having one-on-one lessons also allows Ahmad to give me the personal attention needed to provide feedback, positive and negative, and nip bad habits in the bud before they become ingrained. Additionally, each lesson comes with handouts which are handy to practice with and use as a reference (I have 400+ pages of material so it's important to keep it all organized).
Ahmad has a diverse set of musical tastes and a secondary benefit of taking lessons with him is that he's exposed me to a plethora of great music that I would not otherwise have discovered on my own. Whether you're a beginner, intermediate, advanced, or think you can rival Joe Satriani, there's something for you to learn from Ahmad. Also, I've found that lessons are very motivating in terms of encouraging me to keep practice because, yes, I do get lazy sometimes. With Ahmad, if you put in the time and effort, you will be rewarded greatly with the freedom to be as creative as your heart desires and you will have more fun playing the guitar than a mouse running loose in a cheese factory.
Oh, and Ahmad's a super cool guy too.
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Craig S
I was fortunate enough to take lessons from Ahmad for a number of months last summer. Unfortunately I wasn't able to continue due to personal reasons, but my experience with him was wonderful and very fruitful.
I've been playing for a very long time, and sometimes in my position its hard to recognize your weaknesses and figure out where to make progress. Ahmad was able to talk to me openly and honestly about where my deficiencies were without making me feel bad in any way. He was encouraging and had a plan! I was able to make immediate progress on some very fundamental aspects of guitar that had been holding me back for a long time.
I don't think I've ever seen a more organized and efficient instructor, and it really helps in making incremental progress over the short term, and taking major strides over the long term. I'd highly recommend Ahmad to anyone looking for guitar lessons with disciplined and well-thought-out lesson plans. His focus on technique and fundamentals can help anyone through any style.
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Norman J
Great guy to work with. If you have been playing for a while and the playing is getting no where. See Ahmad! He has tips that will make you a better player.
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Roberto P
I have been taking lessons from Ahmad for nearly a year now.
Ahmad is a fantastic guitar player, but more importantly to me he is an experienced and effective teacher.
From the first lesson he has been clear, concise, encouraging, motivating and serious about my progress on the guitar.
Ahmad displays a strong passion for guitar playing and teaching and his in depth understanding of the subject comes across in his lessons.
His lessons are very well thought out. Over weeks of teaching, you can look back and see that each lesson has clearly built on the last, and nearly every week I have been amazed at the things that I can play and how easy it has been by taking incremental steps to improve.
The one on one time with Ahmad has been a great help. He pays very close attention to every little thing I do to make sure I am doing things the right way all with the intention of making sure that I avoid any roadblocks or technical issues that can lead to plateaus.
Ahmad's clear gift for teaching and his amazing talent on guitar are a killer combination for a guitar teacher. I would highly recommend anyone who is serious about improving on guitar both technically and harmonically look to Ahmad.
You definitely get the impression that he can teach just about anything.
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Jimmy L
I work in a guitar store and get the chance to refer teachers to students regularly. I have been sending students to Ahmad since he moved to the Bay Area from Los Angeles. He Has an amazing system of teaching that really works. If you want to really learn to play and have fun at the same time then go to Ahmad!
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Andy G
I started out trying to teach myself to play the guitar using beginner books and free online lessons. At first I was enthused to be taking the plunge and learning some chords. What was missing was an understanding of the structure behind what I was learning. For example, I didn't want to just learn the chords to popular songs but rather why those chords could be used together and why. I soon realized that trying to teach myself was going to be a long and potentially error prone process so I decided to seek out private instruction. I wanted to be able to ask "why" and get an answer and not have to guess or poke around in the dark and hope to stumble on understanding. I needed a guide.
Having spent a fair amount of my adult life in various universities I knew that mileage can vary when it to comes to instruction. After spending some time looking over various local online search results I found Ahmad site. I was immediately struck by the difference in his presentation from the rest of the offerings. Instead of a bio and picture there was a complete presentation of his approach to guitar instruction. The emphasis on an understanding of harmony struck home with me and I gave him a call.
I've been taking weekly one hour lessons with Ahmad for four months. If I had to find another teacher it would be like having my world turned upside down. In the first few minutes of my first lesson, Ahmad identified what was my biggest fear, rhythm and timing. Ahmad immediately recognized that I didn't play to any particular tempo and how crucial that is to making music. I've come to expect Ahmad's keen attention to how I am playing my exercises. There is no indifference or laziness here, he watches, assesses, then instructs. Ahmad writes his own lessons, he doesn't borrow pages from books or other sources (each page has an idea or purpose that is clearly defined, each a building block of understanding) . His energy to embellish his own written material with written impromptu notes and clarifications are the norm for each lesson.
My curiosity about music theory was met with much enthusiasm. Even though I have only been playing for a few months my understanding of harmony and how it relates to the guitar fingerboard still astonishes me. Granted, I ask a lot of questions and because of my math background I can absorb concepts quickly, but regardless, Ahmad has the answers and you can sense his excitement when he shares ideas that open up your understanding about music and especially the guitar. Looking back at the last few months I realize I take Ahmad's knowledge for granted, he never has to look something up in a book or get back to you on some idea. Some of my favorite lessons have been when my head was full of questions and getting access to Ahmad for an hour.
If there is a rhythm I just can't get down or an idea that is foggy for me Ahmad has the patience and experience to present the material in a way that makes it seem easy. Ahmad is great at sensing when something is shaky in my playing or my understanding and quickly focuses on solving the problem. He places a lot of emphasis on the importance of the fundamentals and how that will ultimately lead to real enjoyment as I grow as a guitarist. Ahmad has made me aware of how important it is to learn something correctly the first time rather than trying to retrain yourself down the road (I honestly feel I will be saving countless wasted hours by learning material in an order that makes sense for my experience and by learning good technique from the start).
I feel so fortunate that Ahmad is available in this time and this place to take lessons from. I feel that Ahmad has a real talent for teaching. I feel it is something he is both talented at and genuinely loves to do. I look forward to my lesson each week with excitement, knowing that I am steadily growing as a guitarist. I always leave my lessons with a smile on my face and looking forward to the days ahead with a guitar in my lap.
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Jamie
Ahmad is incredible!! I could tell from day one he was going to make a huge difference in my guitar playing. His lessons are prepared in advance so very little time is spent penciling out lesson material. His teaching studio is a very clean and professional, and his super well organized library of teaching materials allows us to maximize our learning time. I love playing his teaching material! None of the guys I took lessons from before had such an effective approach. I have so much fun with it! His lessons have introduced me to various pop, rock, country, metal, and jazz concepts from very popular musicians. He has a unique way of teaching rhythm that has helped me capture phrasing and keep songs in time. Recently I've started taking his harmony classes. These classes have given me the knowledge to confidently play with other musicians and create great music. I would highly recommend Ahmad for anyone that desires to learn more about the guitar. I am moving back to Arizona for work (and sun!). I wish I could take him with me!!
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Richard K
This is the guy you are looking for.
At 42 I finally got around to buying my first guitar (no musical background other than fan) and set about teaching myself with books and videos. 10 months later I realized that in spite of working at it every day I was going to get to the 1-year mark and not be able to play a single song all the way through (of the 70's and 80's hard rock that I love, I could play "Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star" pretty well). I was rapidly becoming "that guy" who can play sloppy intros to 300 songs, but nothing else.
I looked around the web, and settled on Ahmad because of his credentials and reviews, and I could not be happier with my choice.
The thing that makes Ahmad special is that he put as much effort into becoming a great guitar teacher as he did in becoming a great guitar player. Every lesson is tailored exactly to my ability at that time. If ever I have had particular trouble with something Ahmad is ready with additional material, alternate ways to learn it, different ways to explain it. No matter what the technique or concept, Ahmad has seen this mistake before and knows just what to do. Some days I leave with many pages of material to master, and some days just one or two. It is all about how slowly or quickly I am picking up the new thing, and all about learning things the right way so that the foundation is solid when I am ready to advance to the next level. There is no schedule or competition (except with myself) and the only objective is to learn more and get better.
To show examples in action Ahmad routinely finds 70s and 80s hard rock for me (not every single note is from Guns-n-Roses of course, but if a particular concept relates to something in a familiar song from the genre, that's the one Ahmad will pick for me to master). You do not have to learn jazz! (I mean if jazz is your thing I am certain that Ahmad can teach you that.)
I really doubt that there is a player at any level (or in any style) who would not learn a lot from Ahmad (that is if you are prepared to be humble and possibly review some foundational material you think you know already... if you knew it, Ahmad would not be teaching it to you... he can hear that your timing is off, or if you didn't hit all of the strings in that chord, and so can your audience). (Once, while I was performing an exercise from the previous lesson, Ahmad had his back to me digging in his filing cabinet for my next materials and said "Did you play the fifth note with an upstroke?"... He heard that, it was supposed to be a down stroke and he heard a difference so slight I didn't even know I was doing it.)
If you are a beginner as I was, my advice is to commit to four lessons with Ahmad. By the end of that time you will hear that you are advancing, and more importantly you will understand where you were and where you are going. It might seem kind of basic at first (which is why I say to go with at least four) but it does not take very long to understand how much better you will be with strong fundamentals. If, instead, you learn to play badly, and you practice regularly, eventually your speed will improve... and then you will play badly fast which actually sounds worse than playing badly slow... all that work for less than nothing.
I have been taking lessons for about a year and half. I can play some Lead Guitar now. And I can play some real songs now. Even those 300 intros are getting tight, that is to say I now play them with the right timing, technique, phrasing and feel!
PS - If Ahmad says "it's time for the Harmony Classes", do it! Like most things Ahmad has taught me, I have resisted it in some way at first, and the harmony lessons are no different. Like everything Ahmad has taught me, the harmony classes have immediately made me better at playing guitar, and have provided a foundation that makes the next thing and the next thing and the next thing easier, faster, and better.
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Mike P.
Ahmad is an excellent guitar teacher. I have been taking lessons from Ahmad at his place in for several months now and I'm continually impressed with Ahmad and very pleased with my progress on the guitar.
Ahmad has a relaxed and friendly attitude, but it's clear that he's exceptionally good at his trade. He has years of experience and teaching materials on hand, and I enjoy that Ahmad customizes what he teaches to each student's skill level and goals. He has developed a very effective teaching method that works well for me. I've had plenty of music education previously in my life and Ahmad quickly recognized that we could move quickly over the basics of reading music, rhythm notation, etc. and he's always prepared with an exercise or two for me to take home and practice to expand my skills further.
I found Ahmad via his web site and called him and he was very professional and courteous leading up to our first appointment. He's got his teaching down to a science and Ahmad is very efficient with his administrative matters. I'm grateful for this because it leaves a lot more time for the guitar lesson itself.
Ahmad charges a reasonable fee for his service and I'm looking forward to learning from Ahmad for a long time to come.
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Fred
As a complete beginner, I began searching for a guitar teacher. Upon meeting Ahmad, I was struck immediately by his passion for music and teaching. That was what kept me coming back to the lessons.
Having now spent a year and a half with Ahmad, my progress has been phenomenal.
As a former music major studying saxophone, I have had my share of music teachers. I can say that Ahmad has been the most influential and effective of all. His manageable lessons challenge you enough to make you better without overwhelming you with techniques and theory that you don't understand. Every lesson builds on priors so that you are not wasting time learning scattered and incomplete lessons that you may find in books or video lessons on youtube.
We began simply learning pentatonic scales to build basic right and left hand technique. After spending months learning this, we moved onto major scales, and understanding harmonizing and more music theory. Throughout this, we have also spent time on learning basic rhythms.
Finally, we have moved onto modes, arpeggios, and blues. Although there was a lot of work learning to play scales and arpeggios, it was absolutely necessary in order to understand how to solo over rock and blues music. While I have a long way to go with the instrument, it is so satisfying to have the tools to write music, play solos, and make them sound like you know what you are doing. I would have never been able to do this without Ahmad.
Ahmad is not a magician--you have to put in the work yourself. But he makes your practice efficient so that your time is spent learning valuable skills, instead of bad habits.
If I had to do it all over again, I would have started sooner!
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Fred
As a complete beginner, I began searching for a guitar teacher. Upon meeting Ahmad, I was struck immediately by his passion for music and teaching. That was what kept me coming back to the lessons.
Having now spent a year and a half with Ahmad, my progress has been phenomenal.
As a former music major studying saxophone, I have had my share of music teachers. I can say that Ahmad has been the most influential and effective of all. His manageable lessons challenge you enough to make you better without overwhelming you with techniques and theory that you don't understand. Every lesson builds on priors so that you are not wasting time learning scattered and incomplete lessons that you may find in books or video lessons on youtube.
We began simply learning pentatonic scales to build basic right and left hand technique. After spending months learning this, we moved onto major scales, and understanding harmonizing and more music theory. Throughout this, we have also spent time on learning basic rhythms.
Finally, we have moved onto modes, arpeggios, and blues. Although there was a lot of work learning to play scales and arpeggios, it was absolutely necessary in order to understand how to solo over rock and blues music. While I have a long way to go with the instrument, it is so satisfying to have the tools to write music, play solos, and make them sound like you know what you are doing. I would have never been able to do this without Ahmad.
Ahmad is not a magician--you have to put in the work yourself. But he makes your practice efficient so that your time is spent learning valuable skills, instead of bad habits.
If I had to do it all over again, I would have started sooner!
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Evan
Ahmad is a fantastic teacher, and not just for beginners but for experienced players as well!
I've been playing guitar for about 20 years, but haven't taken any formal lessons in the past 15 of those. I felt like I was in a rut with my playing so I started taking lessons with Ahmad a few months ago. He was able to immediately help me improve my technique and help me correct some inefficiencies that I didn't even notice I was doing. The word "inefficiencies" in the last sentence was chosen very deliberately because Ahmad has a great way of showing that there are multiple ways to play the instrument and not one specific "right" and "wrong" way.
I feel like I've made more progress in the last 4 months than I had in years.
