Guitar with Adam P.

I've been involved with music in some capacity pretty much from the get-go, whether as a player, a teacher, a sound engineer, or even building and repairing instruments. Music is my passion, and has been a source of many wonderful things in my life, and I hope that I can pass that on to my students. I initially took up bass guitar when I was 10 years old, then moved on to electric guitar within a couple of years. With help from a teacher, I developed my skills simply by learning how to play my favorite songs, and this is the same approach I like to take with my own students. I eventually went back and learned a lot of the theory behind what I was doing, but playing along with records was what made it fun and kept it interesting for me. Being a technical sort of guy, I studied audio production in college, then spent more than a decade in Chicago, working steadily as an engineer, both in studio, and in live sound reinforcement. The cold winters there broke me, though, so I made my way to the warmer, more relaxed environs of Austin. In 2004 I began learning to play pedal steel guitar, and it quickly became my primary instrument as I found myself playing out regularly with several Chicago-based country and western outfits, as well as rock bands that were looking to add a very unique sound to their mix. It certainly isn't the most common instrument around, but it's a ton of fun to play, and I get very excited about showing it to others. In addition to teaching guitar and steel guitar, I operate my own piano tuning and repair service, AP Piano Service. Ironically, I don't actually play piano, but I've got great ears and a knack for fixing things, so if you've got a piano sitting around the house in need of a tuning, well, that's an added bonus. *** Lesson Details *** Whether you're starting from the very beginning, or if you already play a bit and want to brush up and learn something new, I'm happy to teach students of all abilities and ages. My lessons are tailored to fit each student's current skill level, yet still be challenging. At the end of the day, I want my students to have fun while they're playing, and then to feel that they've accomplished something great when it comes time to put down their instruments. I start beginners off with the basic fundamentals, and a few exercises just to get their fingers moving. You gotta crawl before you can walk, right? Very quickly, we move on to some simple chord shapes and apply them by learning songs that the student knows and loves. From there we progress at whatever pace is comfortable for the student, gradually adding more chords and progressions, learning riffs and lead lines, etc... Along the way, I like to pepper lessons with a bit of basic music theory, just so that students can get a little better grasp of what they're doing and how it all works. By no means does that have to involve endless hours spent practicing scales. That's all great for advanced musicians, but I feel that learning to play songs is far more productive for less experienced students. Music is like any other language, and I think it's fair to say that most people first learn to speak before they learn the rules of spelling and grammar. *** Studio Equipment *** I have numerous acoustic and electric guitars in my home studio, as well as amplifiers, cables, etc. Students are welcome to use my equipment, if they choose. *** Travel Equipment *** Depending on the student and the styles of music that we're studying, I either bring along my own acoustic guitar or an electric and a small practice amplifier, along with the necessary cables, picks, and other accessories. *** Specialties *** Classic and modern Rock 'n' Roll, Pop, Country and Western, Folk, Lap Steel, Pedal Steel. In addition to regular 6-string guitar, I teach 6, 8, or 10-string lap steel and pedal steel.