Private Guitar tutoring lessons Phoenix, AZ.

I have been teaching guitar since 2009. I teach in a therapeutic style, using my music therapy training to be as observant, adaptive and flexible as I need to be for the student's benefit. I teach at the student's pace and to their interests, while building their musicality, music theory, and performance skills. I often incorporate singing into lessons as well. 1-2 times a year, we work towards building a repertoire of 1-4 pieces (depending on the student) to play at a local assisted living facility or skilled nursing facility.

We're gonna HAVE FUN! Your lessons will be customized to your needs and what you want to do with your ability to play guitar. I can teach you either electric or acoustic guitar. I can prepare you for any genre as I include fundamentals (for example, scales and arpeggios) in your practice. I use Mel Bay's Modern Guitar Method books for reference and/or lesson work. I can help you learn how to play with a pick, how to finger-pick, how to sing and play simultaneously, and even how to sightread.

I have 20 plus years in several styles of guitar including Rock, Metal, Blues, Worship styles. I also teach songwriting on guitar. If you desire to learn to play the guitar and grow very quickly then I am the perfect teacher for this. You can learn Popular Songs, original Songwriting and much more. I am a Heavy Metal Riff Master! Favorite bands include Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, All That Remains, August Burns Red and much more.

I am a string specialist. That means I teach and play violin, viola, cello, double bass, guitar, bass guitar, mandolin, ukulele and piano. I earned B.A. earned from the University of Northern Colorado, Greeley Colorado where I was a double major in classical guitar and double bass. In my senior year I was the recipient of the Annual Concerto Contest where I performed the "Concerto in A Major" on double bass with the University orchestra for the spring concert. I have played in both professional and semi-professional orchestras in Colorado and Arizona. I believe that any student will practice more if he or she likes the music they are playing. Periodically I will ask a student to give me a name of a piece of music that they would like to learn how to play. I notate it for them, often simplifying the rhythm and chords in Finale NotePad and give it to them free of charge. I teach students how to play music on their given instrument. Not just how to play the instrument but working on ...

Lessons with me are like playing a video game that trains you to be good at music. Seriously. Every exercise we do will generate a score, and you can practice between lessons in order to “beat your high score” during the next one. Ask me anything!

Guitar students start with five subjects.

1) Technique is concerned with the development of the physical mechanics involved in playing the instrument.

2) Scales are a part of basic music vocabulary and building blocks of the musical language.

3) Chords are also basic vocabulary of the musical language.

4) Note reading is not required for every student. It really depends on the students' goals. However, I strongly encourage everyone learn to read musical notation, (more than tablature). Literacy in reading music is analogous to literacy in reading in our English language. Can you imagine how much smaller our world would be if we couldn't read?

5) Songs utilize the skills and concepts of all the previously mentioned subjects and are the goal of studying music. The student chooses what songs they want to play, guided by my suggestions; Jazz, rock, blues, country, bluegrass, R &B - "How deep is the ocean, how high is the sky?"

A beginning student will practice all