Bloomworks

My teaching approach:

I am always attempting to teach the music that the Student wishes to play. However, through this method I use the student's choice of music to help them with technical issues, or musical issues of any kind. For example, if there is an ascending scale in a song, that could lead to work on scales in general. The same goes for chords. I can teach you with or without reading music. I do believe that learning to read music is a great thing, but I also understand that if you play more popular forms of music you may not need that skill. I look forward to working with you and helping you!

My influences are:

Jazz Teachers: Bill Saxton, Reggie Workman, Marilyn Crispell, Dave Fiuczynski, Henry Martin, Pat Martino, Ben Monder, and Rachel Z. Classical Teachers: Virginia Luque, Mark Delpriora My indirect influences: John McLaughlin, Derek Bailey, Wes Montgomery, Charlie Christian, George Benson, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Eric Dolphy, Charles Mingus, B.B. King, Freddie King, guitarists with James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, etc etc. It's a long list.

My guitar lessons take place in:

The teacher's studio or the student's home

Guitar lessons typically take place on these days and hours:

I have Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays available. Thursdays and Fridays only after 7:30pm. Weekends, I can teach Sunday nights.

Guitar Techniques:

Lead guitar, Rhythm guitar, Open tuning, Fingerstyle, Slide Guitar, Vocal Accompaniment, Performance, Improvisation, Jamming Skills, Reading Music, Music Theory, Scales and Exercises, Guidance In Equipment Selection

Your first guitar lesson with me might include the following:

If the student wishes to read music, I start them out with a few easy exercises of basic notes, and I also start with chords right away. Especially for children it's so important to get them going on strumming away. That's the fun part! With teenagers and adults everything is based off the songs that the students choose. However, I do take parts of songs and turn them into technical exercises that will help the student move towards their goals. Classical Guitar is more defined in the way that it is taught. I have a very organized approach to teaching Classical, having had great teachers.

A guitar lesson with me might entail the following:

Typically the first lesson is a time for checking out the student (and vice versa) and getting a sense of what they're looking for. After that I demonstrate a few ways to show the student how I would approach their choice of music. Then they'll pick a method and we'll go from there. Over the years I've discovered that all my students ask me the same questions at certain stages. At first this was a surprise to me, but now I use this as a way of knowing when the student is ready for more info, and what they're ready for next. This works out really well, and is a very organic way of teaching.

The qualities I look for in an ideal guitar student might include the following:

Someone that is excited about learning music and has a good idea of what they would like to play. It doesn't matter to me if you just started yesterday! If the student is making progress, it's still fun for me!