Jim Trostle Guitar Lessons

My teaching approach:

I received my Associates Degree from Harrisburg Area Community College in 1976 where I majored on guitar. I received my B.A. in Professional Music from Berklee College of Music in 1982. Reaching Berklees highest level in both Theory and Ear Training has provided the means to experience my diverse interests equally as well as the diverse interests in all my students over 30 years.

My influences are:

Steve Vai (My neighbor at Berklee), Pat Metheny, Joe Pass, Jeff Beck, Larry Carlton, Chick Corea, Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock, Clyde Lucas

My guitar lessons take place in:

The teacher's studio

Guitar Lessons with me take place in the following areas:

My teaching studio is on the 3rd floor in my home which I own in Lancaster,Pa.

Guitar Techniques:

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

Your first guitar lesson with me might include the following:

It's not difficult to assess a student and realize what their interests are and what they need to learn in order to achieve their goals. Guitar is much more than copying other people or struggling with tab.

A guitar lesson with me might entail the following:

No two students are alike which makes it impossible to "cookie-cut" lessons like some teachers. I have assembled a vast library of original hand-out sheets and play-a-long CD's organized to require a hands-on approach with scales, triads, 7th chords, intervals, modes, etc.

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

The ideal student shows up prepared and on time. An attitude that understands the importance of how far one can go beyond the fundamentals of basic theory. Music is infinite so the better one understands the "rules" of basic theory the better one can break the rules.