David D. Guitar, Piano, Recording, Song Writing, Theory New York, NY

Music has always been part of my life and something that I love.  Influenced early on by my grandfather, a professional bass and guitar player, I developed a first love for jazz and began learning to play the piano at age 7.  Studying with a local instructor, I learned to read and write music and play classical piano for 6 years.  From early on, I found a desire for improvisation and loved the idea of spontaneously creating new music on the spot. 

At around age 14 I picked up my first guitar, passed down from my other brother.  While I still play the piano from time to time, I found what I was looking for and pursued the quest of learning all about guitar playing, inside and out.   In these years I studied with another local instructor and jazz guitarist.  I later attended Georgetown University majoring in computer science.  Throughout my four year stay, however, I took numerous enlightening courses involving music ranging from jazz theory and composition to live improvisation to studies of music and its evolution and role in various cultures.  At the end of college, I had received enough credits to have a music minor.  During these years I also performed in various bands ranging from 2 person acoustic shows to full on ensembles, gaining a lot of experience and insight into the life of a professional musician.  I also have many hours of experience in recording studios creating and editing music and creating CDs and mp3s.

Today I spend the day as a software engineer and my free time practicing, playing, recording and teaching music.  It is something that I love and hope to share with all who are interested.

I am relaxed and laid back in my teaching.  I like to find out the student's goals and current level of experience before deciding what the lessons will entail.  What I offer is the opportunity for a student to learn the fundamentals necessary to playing guitar as well as the ability to study more advanced theory and techniques. 

Some of the things that we can cover:

1) Learning to read music, including the fundamentals of music theory.

2) Learning to write music, from song structures to recording

3) Learning to play in a live setting, including rehearsed pieces and improvisation

I like to dedicate part of a lesson to learning songs (that the student chooses if desired) and also part to learning new techniques/theory.  If you do not want to learn theory but rather learn by ear that is also welcomed.

Learning and writing songs, Jazz Improvisation, Blues, Rock, Bluegrass, Jam Band styles.

Guitar, Piano, Recording, Song Writing, Theory