I'm Mike, and I'm thrilled to be part of the TakeLessons team. I first picked up the guitar at the age of 5, and have never looked back! I began formal Jazz training in high school and continued studying guitar and composition at Oberlin College and Wesleyan University. After graduating, I played Organ Trio and small combo jazz in LA, studied Brazilian and African percussion, and went to Japan to study Shamisen and Taiko drumming. I've been playing in various groups since arriving in NYC in 2005, and have recently been working on engineering and composing for film. My strength lies in my versatility - I love music of all kinds. Whether it's Soul, Samba, or Salsa, Rock, Pop or Hip Hop, I am very good at communicating the mechanics of music so that my students not only learn to play, but learn to listen and write. I have a studio space in Manhattan as well as a small mixing studio in my Brooklyn apartment, and I'm happy to show students the ins and outs of recording along with theory and guitar technique. *** Lesson Details *** Music is fun!!! I strive for all my students to enjoy themselves, to have a great time learning about the world of music. I use a song-based approach to guitar playing. Armed with just a small vocabulary of chords, you can play hundreds of great songs. My students will determine the course of their lesson plan by selecting songs they want to learn. While maintaining proper technique and effective practice methods, we will learn the fundamentals of the guitar by playing the music that we love. After 6 months, you will know all the basic chords, and the fundamentals of playing a solo. As lessons progress, you also learn song structure and some basic harmonic theory so you can begin creating on your own. *** Travel Equipment *** The student is expected to provide his or her own guitar. *** Specialties *** Jazz, ear training, songwriting, theory