Private Electric Guitar tutoring lessons Clearwater, FL.

"Coming from piano, the guitar has always seemed daunting to me. Prior to my lessons with Carlos, I had tried to teach myself songs/chords without much luck. Fortunately for me, Carlos turned out to be an extremely patient, friendly and competent teacher - I immediately knew I’d be progressing quickly with him! His qualifications speak for themselves, but I can’t recommend Carlos enough."

"Fantastic instructor with a breadth of knowledge but also the patience to explain everything. He is always willing to deconstruct concepts in order to make them easier to understand. Helped me understand fundamental chords and scales in theory and in practice. Also, he showed me how to play some songs i requested and showed me how to improve on the parts i had trouble with. Very nice guy and a real professional!"

"I have been taking guitar lessons with Nick Russo since February 2018. In my opinion, Nick Russo is a terrific musician and an outstanding teacher. He is an active gigging musician with an encyclopedic knowledge of music theory and music history and is well-versed in various types of music including,but not limited to classical, jazz, metal, folk, world music, etc., etc. Nick comes from a musical family and is very passionate about music, and this comes accross loud and clear in his lessons.He lives and breathes music.

I came to Nick after taking lessons for several years with another teacher. I liked this teacher very much, and the lessons only ended because the teacher moved to another geographic location. Although I did like this teacher, the lessons were starting to get stale and repetitious. When I started working with Nick that feeling was turned around. Lessons with Nick are very stimulating and interesting. Although Nick knows sight reading and theory well, he places a great emphasis on aural (ear) training. I have worked with him learning intervals, scales and songs, using my ears instead of my head. It’s a little hard to explain, but it’s a very organic kind of way to learn music. You learn the instrument more intuitively and I have had a number of’ “aha” moments when some pattern or connection or aspect of theory makes sense in a deep way. In the time that I’ve worked with Nick, my knowledge of the fretboard, and my ability to figure things out by ear has improved tremendously although I still have a long way to go.

Nick is also an incredibly kind and compassionate person, and he has shown a great deal of patience when working with me. If I don’t understand something he will try to break it down or present it in such a way that it finally makes sense to me. He has also worked a lot with me on my technique, and has tried to help me play more efficiently and ergonomically. Earlier in my guitar playing career, I developed

tendonitis in my left hand from playing. In addition, I have chronic lower back problems. Nick has made numerous helpful suggestions so that I don’t exacerbate these problems or injure myself again. One suggestion that was particularly helpful was to use a bass guitar strap for my electric guitar. Because the bass strap is much wider than a regular guitar strap, the weight is more evenly distributed across my back, resulting in less back strain.

I began my lessons with Nick face-to-face, but this changed to video due to the coronavirus pandemic. We utilize Skype and it seems to work pretty well, although there’s no substitute for meeting in person. Nick seems very adept at working in this modality. For example, he will have me position the camera so he can see how I am playing something. He will also provide close-ups of his own fingering to show me how he is playing something. In addition, Nick sends his students notes regarding the most salient points of each session. This is something he did even prior to the pandemic. Nick allows me to audio tape the sessions, and when I am able to go through the tape I gain an even deeper understanding of whatever was covered.

In short I feel that Nick is great person and a terrific teacher and that I was very lucky to have found him. I would recommend him to anyone with no reservation."

"Matt has taught me electric guitar through High School and I had learned techniques beyond I thought I could ever conquer. He is a exceptional teacher and is very inspiring to my guitar playing and music capabilities."

"I first got to talking with Zach back in 2015, I had been looking for an accomplished musician to play at my husbands birthday party. He did not disappoint! ! Everyone was very impressed with his music style and professionalism. Through that connection we got to talking, and I also learned that he teaches music all over the south bay! Years later now in 2019, My 16 year old son had been wanting to take electric guitar lessons, but we had not been finding a good fit with a teacher. My son is very smart and artistic, however struggles with a mild learning disability. I reached out to Zach, and we discussed giving it a try. Zach is very patient and breaks up the music information in a way that is very understandable for my son, and is hands on pointing out the best techniques to help him excel, and stay engaged. My son has been taking lessons from Zach once a week for a few months, and I cannot believe my sons progress!! He actually enjoys learning the guitar and is feeling very inspired to continue to learn more because he is learning to play all the songs he is interested in. MY son is now teaching me how to play some new songs..I am thankful to Zach for empowering my son to unlock his musical ability and keeping him interested in learning in a stress free environment. Zach although very professional, he is a relaxed teacher, and very relatable to young people, teens and young adults which I think makes lessons fun! I am very picky about who teaches my kids, and Zach I would say checks off all the right boxes!!"

"As someone who has played guitar for over ten years and taken lessons from several other accomplished guitar teachers, I can safely say that Ahmad is the best guitar teacher I've taken lessons from.

He determines what you hope to take away from the lessons and what your goals are as a player and is very dedicated to finding a way to get you there that is both educational and enjoyable. His instruction is very flexible and has no hesitation dropping one exercise and focusing more on styles of learning that are suitable for you as a student.

For someone who has been playing for a long time he was quickly able to open up a whole new set of possibilities and refresh the instrument for me as well as better my understanding of music harmony and melody in general."