Kalen Ridley Guitar Lessons

My teaching approach:

I have an Associate's and Bachelor's degree in Music Performance, as well as working on finishing my Master's degree here at Syracuse University. Through my academic career in music, it has allowed me a wide variety of experiences to pull from and help my students with. My teaching ability is not limited to one specific style (as you can see above). My teaching approach is that of a tailored style to each student. That means is that I don't follow one specific teaching method with all of my students; rather, I try to mold how I teach each individual student differently, based on their needs.

My influences are:

Electric-Progressive: Paul Gilbert, John Petrucci, Guthrie Govan, Tosin Abasi Electric-Jazz: Joe Pass, John Scofield, Django Reinhardt, Bireli Lagrene, Ted Greene Acoustic: Tommy Emmanuel, Antoine Dufour, Andy McKee, John Mayer Classical: Ricardo Cobo, Goran Krivokapic, Aniello Desiderio, Denis Azabagic, Marcin Dylla There's a lot more to add to this 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:

Very flexible schedule at the moment.

Guitar Techniques:

Lead guitar

Your first guitar lesson with me might include the following:

The first lesson is usually one that consists primarily of talking and trying to discover what you, the student, wants out of music and guitar. We'll discuss why you've taken up an interest in the guitar, who your influences are, what you would really like to accomplish, and the hopeful goal or goals that we can work toward together for your musical endeavors.

A guitar lesson with me might entail the following:

A guitar lesson with me usually starts off very casually, asking how the week went with your practicing, what you really worked on, what perhaps you didn't quite get to but wanted to. After that point, we dig in and get to work! We'll try to figure out together how to best shape your musical potential toward your musical goals.

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

My ideal student would be someone who is very self-motivated and disciplined, driven by their passion and love for music. Guitar is one of those instruments that you sincerely get out of it what you put in. With me, I will try to push you to reach your desired level of success as much as possible. Learning music and discovering all that it has to offer should be fun and challenging at the same time.