Music has always been a huge part of my life, and so over the years Ive tried many times to learn an instrument. Guitar, bass, piano, saxophone, harmonica, voice... none of them really panned out for me. When I look back on it now, I see there were two things that always stopped me from getting anywhere:
The first one was: when I tried to teach myself I felt too overwhelmed by all of the different advice out there.
And the second thing was: I never clicked with any of the teachers I found. They were all cool people, but I struggled to learn the way they wanted me to learn, and I couldnt stay engaged with the material.
My guitar lessons with David were the exact opposite of those things. They were exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. David has a very egoless teaching style, and I was really humbled by how much thought he put into every aspect of the lessons. We did four virtual lessons over Zoom, over the course of about a month and a half. He gave me exercises to practice, and notes about what we went over.
In the beginning I did my best to explain my challenges to him when it comes to learning, motivation, practicing, and confidence. Shockingly, he then took all of that into account, and I never once felt like I was letting him down or that I wasnt where I should be. Its very rare for me to feel that relaxed about learning something. I felt that I had the permission and the space to learn how I learn, and to follow the parts that are interesting to me. Because of that, I felt that I wanted to practice, and I did.
I have rarely, if ever, met someone who takes the business of teaching as seriously as David. I cant imagine how different my life would be if I had encountered more teachers like David, in my life.