Mike S.

Excellent lesson. Only 30 minutes but by the end I was playing simple improvisations (on the piano) over a blues-pattern bass. I didn't believe I had it in me ("improvisation") but he definitely brought it out! He accompanied me on his guitar and we alternated playing the melody\bass on the piano\guitar several times. Quite a trip and I enjoyed it. Looking forward to my next lesson.

Mike is awesome. He taught my daughter piano, guitar, and ukelele. He's very supportive and encouraging, yet he also is quick to correct mistakes.

Mike makes learning music so much fun. My daughter enjoyed the lessons and enjoyed the pieces he taught her. She is now pretty good at improv as well.

I actually took guitar lessons from Mike too, and I learned so much in a very short time.

When Mike is giving lessons, there's no time wasted. My daughter was always playing something during the lesson.

So Mike's enthusiasm for music is infectious. The kids will enjoy him, the lesson, and the music.

Thanks, Mike!

Most excellent first guitar lesson to where we actually played a song together. I'm blown away. What fun! I only hope I can remember the chords when I practice on my own, and I look forward to my next lesson with Mike. I can already tell I'll be signing up for more lessons. Great teacher, and I can say that because I tried to learn some years ago with another instructor, and he made me feel like I'd just never get it and may as well give up. Mike erased all that negativity for me in 30 minutes. Thanks, Mike!

I developed a desire later in life to learn how to play jazz and blues piano. I was very fortunate to start learning from Mike. He started me out with basic blues and over time I progressed into many of the jazz standards. Because he is also an accomplished guitar player, at all his lessons, he would accompany me while I played the new piece of music I was learning. He also does this if you are learning the guitar. This was very helpful in giving me a more complete musical experience, as I also learned to hear and play with other musicians. He is an extremely patient and upbeat instructor, constantly giving me positive reinforcement. I would get a new tune to practice as I became more proficient with the previous one. Each new tune became progressively more challenging. Having taken lessons from Mike for many years, I also witnessed his teaching and developing of younger kids. He really works with them in a positive way giving them as much time as they need to turn the corner on each tune and progress forward. They seem to enjoy it and he has developed some great musicians. As part of his instruction, he gives all his students an opportunity to participate in a Jazz Band he puts together. In this Jazz Band he leads all the players in working together though a jam session. Other players may include guitarists, brass players and keyboardists, young and older. Frankly I am forever grateful to Mike for helping me create the foundation to play jazz and blues piano both alone and with a group of other musicians.

I had been taking piano lessons for close to 6 years when I started with Mike. I learned more about playing jazz from him in a year than I had in all that time from a number of other teachers. Very easy to get a long with and makes class a lot of fun. Very highly recommend!