Russell Mines

Few people have my uninterupted 30 year track record of teaching, performing, recording and total immersion in the difficult but ultimately rewarding process of practicing/mastering a musical instrument.

I am successfully self taught and classically trained (AA Degree in Composition) so I can craft specific lesson plans for all types/ages/levels of students in a very wide variety of styles including Rock, Blues, Jazz, Classical.

• After graduation from College of Marin I moved to Southern California to attend Musician’s Institute (MI) in Hollywood from 1987-88. While there I studied with guitar greats such as Paul Gilbert, Joe D’iorrio, and Scott Henderson to name just a few. I graduated with Honors at the top of my class and was chosen to contribute to the class album for that year. Along with two of my classmates I recorded an excerpt from the Well Tempered Clavier by JS Bach.

• Concurrent to my attendance at MI I was hired to play in the pit band for a 20th anniversary production of the musical “Hair” featuring Richard Pryor’s Daughter, Rain. That show ran to sold out houses for 18 months (5 shows per week) and the music director Steven Bernstein won an award for his work.

I get joy from watching students' process/progress. It just never gets old when I see somebody go from saying somthing like "Oh my God, how do you do that?!", to something like "Oh.....now I get it". You have to try this!!!