Alex Salser Guitar Lessons

My teaching approach:

I am a nationally touring musician with the folk band Dear Creek and play in a wide variety of groups in the D.C area. I have a degree from Shenandoah Conservatory in Arts Management and Jazz Guitar. I like to help my students develop their musical style and get them to where they are playing shows or just using music as an art that they can share with family and friends to better their life. I approach music through ear training, chord and scale study, site reading and improvisation. I like to use songs that my students are interested in and work on those techniques in context of the song

My influences are:

Wes Montgomery, Eric Clapton, Phish, Doc Watson, Chris Thile, Joe Pass, Radiohead, Stevie Ray Vaughn.

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 can teach any day of the week. I generally stick to Sunday-Wednesdays, because I tend to have more conflicts later in the week, but am always flexible to make it work with my students schedules.

Guitar Techniques:

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

Your first guitar lesson with me might include the following:

In the introduction I generally talk to students about their musical interests and goals. I find out what styles of music they are interested in and play along with them to get a feel for where they are at skill wise. I then go home and create a customized lesson plan that is directly catered to the individual student.

A guitar lesson with me might entail the following:

A guitar lesson will generally entail warm-up, review of last weeks material, and learning a new concept. At the end of each lesson I like to jam or play through songs we already know to work on our live performance. I generally make custom backing tracks for each student throughout the week to practice to and emphasize recording all of the songs they learn. I think it's important to have a physical copy of one's progress.

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

My ideal guitar student is someone who is genuinely loves music. Skill level aside, I try to share the love of music that I have with each and every student.