Guitar with Allen D.

Hello! My name is Allen and I've been playing guitar for 16 years, and teaching for the past 10. I've been performing and writing since the age of 16 with bands in many styles. I'm originally from Santa Maria, CA, and I obtained my knowledge of music theory, performance, and songwriting skills from taking private lessons in the central coast at a place called Coelho's Academy of Music. Our head instructor, Jerry Coelho, was a student of the late Howard Roberts and was one of the first graduating students to who helped to establish Guitar Institute of Technology (GIT), currently known as The Musicians Institute. After dedicating 4 years of private lessons under Jerry and his other top instructors, my hard work payed off and I was given the opportunity take students of my own. For the following two years, I've managed to consistently teach 40 students per week. I decided to move forward and take my musical experience with me to San Diego, where I currently teach, write, record, and perform my music with others who have similar goals and aspirations. I love playing in as many bands as possible. The main one I play in is called Quel Bordel. Some of the bands I've played in have given me the opportunity to perform with local and big named artists such as D.J. Artistic, Gary Wilson of Stones Throw Records, The Aristocrats, Terry Bozzio, Alan Holdsworth, and Tony Levin. As a full time musician and performer, I'm typically out gigging anywhere from 2-5 a week. As a teacher, I'm here to help you with where you want to be with guitar. Whether it's rock, pop, funk, hip hop, reggae, jazz, blues, indie, folk, and country, I can help you with the technical and theoretical side of things. *** Lesson Details *** My goal- To get you to become better than me. I find myself as an easy going teacher, and can provide that push when I see students getting more engaged in their lessons. I typically teach out of two main books, and it's optional for students to have their own copy of my recommended method books. I emphasize heavy chord vocabulary and steady rhythm. I believe that in order to be a good lead player, you would have to be a great rhythm player. As we develop technique, you can expect me to incorporate theory as to maintain an even share of the HOW's and WHY's. Moreover, expect to DO something with our lessons. Repetition is the mother of learning, and sometimes it comes down to the idea of 'monkey see, monkey do' before we can have in depth conversations about the application of your lessons in real situations. To me, music is very creative. So I'm a big believer on improvisation with both chords and scales. I believe in practical application when learning the songs you want to learn. So every student will have a unique way of learning the fundamentals only necessary to their personal goals. *** Studio Equipment *** Two small practice amps, cables, method books (personal copies), extra picks, extra guitar, music stand, blank sheet music/tabs for notes, extra strings, music stand, metronome, tuner *** Travel Equipment *** Music stand, extra guitar (if needed), blank staff/tab paper, tuner, metronome, battery powered amp, cables, extra strings (if needed), picks *** Specialties *** I primarily use Hal Leonard method books for beginners when it comes to reading and basic technique. For those who want to learn at the intermediate/advance level, I use the book called Jazz and Pop Guitar (chords and progressions) and Scales and Modes in the Beginning which can cover all aspects of chord theory and improvisation. I model my curriculum off of my prior lesson plans from my teachers ( based off of Berklee and GIT) My genres specialize in rock, funk, jazz, indie rock, folk, country, blues, pop