I believe that the best way to learn music is through real world application. I teach students music in genre and era that they love and use this music as a vehicle to develop music fundamentals such as rhythm, theory, and technique. A unique challenge of teaching guitar is the instrument's versatility. Unlike other instruments, guitar can play an important role in almost any style of music and each of these styles calls for specific knowledge and technical ability. I work with my students to develop individualized goals and set about finding the path of least resistance to reaching said goals. I teach in a wide variety of styles including but not limited to Pop, Rock, Alternative, Hard Rock, Folk, Blues, Soul, R&B, Jazz, Metal, Country, Bluegrass, and Classical…

To me, learning bass is all about understanding Functional Harmony, Voice Leading, Rhythmic Feel, and Counterpoint. I think these skills are important for any musician. In a Bass lesson with me you can expect to work on developing these skills through the lense of the basslines from your favorite songs. Whether it's Motown, Modern Pop, or even Metallica, I always enjoy working through and finding the nuances of the music my students want to learn. I teach a variety of styles including Soul, Blues, Rock, Pop, Folk, Country, and Metal just to name a few. I am currently offering lessons to beginner or intermediate students.

I am currently offering Beginner to Intermediate Ukulele lessons to students of all ages. The specifics of what we work on will vary depending on students goals, but almost all students can expect to spend some time working on a number of fundamentals. Chords, chord switching, strumming, basic rhythmic competency, ear training, right and left hand techniques, and reading music are almost always touched on in lessons. That being said, you will learn these skills in the context of music you are excited about learning! Whether you love Jake Shimabakuro or Imagine Dragons we’ll try to find a way to work on music you like while still learning the important music fundamentals!

Piano is perhaps the most intuitive instrument I teach. Unlike stringed instruments that have many repeating pitches and initially unclear musical intervals, the piano is very linear. There is only one place to find each note and notes proceed up chromatically from left to right. Also unlike stringed instruments, the piano does not require any initial struggle to produce a clear sound. Just depress a key with your finger and there it is! For these reasons, I often recommend piano lessons for younger students who may struggle with the physical demands of a stringed instrument and also to music students seeking a better understanding of music theory. However, I think that Piano can be rewarding and fun for any student or musician!

To me, the key to developing a voice as a songwriter is process. Even though many artists and fans of artists use this word like it is this mysterious unknowable force, I believe that like an instrument, process is something that can be discovered and even learned. In Songwriting lessons with me, we will engage with and attempt to refine your process as it is and maybe even reinvent it along the way. For everyone this will be different, but this work often entails study of the work of great songwriters the student admires, lyric writing exercises, study in harmony and melody, as well as arrangement and orchestration. Another myth I hope to dispel with students is the myth of “inspiration”. While inspiration is absolutely a force necessary for most good writing, I think that it is often surrounded by misconceptions…

In my opinion the two biggest issues for new ensemble players is listening (or lack thereof) and unity. When playing in an ensemble it is important to listen to other players parts and learn how your own part fits into the complete musical framework. Often musicians new to ensemble work are listening, but only to themselves and their part, not the group sound. This issue in turn makes it so they do not adapt as readily when things sometimes go awry. In my ensemble teaching I emphasize the importance of playing together, not just being right. In ensemble playing sometimes players get lost or make mistakes. Rather than leaving those players in the dust, I teach my ensemble students how to listen for and back up other ensemble players when they make a mistake…

While I teach music theory to some extent with all my students, some students express specific interest in understanding the structures and rules that are followed (or broken!) by the artists they listen to. With my theory students I try to generally stay away from academic language and focus on the way that concepts relate to concrete functions in music that students are interested in. Harmony, Melody, Voice Leading, Rhythm, and Counterpoint are frequent topics of discussion. Theory much like music itself is language, it is a way that musicians communicate. For my students I try to focus learning upon the culture they are interested in engaging in. For example if you are interested in pop music it is most likely far more important for you to understand Tonic, Pre-Dominant, and Dominant chord relationships than to know the names and uses of the modes of the Melodic Minor Scale (a skill more useful in classical composition or jazz improvisation). As a theory teacher my goal is to make the language of the music you love one that you can speak!