Guitar with Mike M.

Mike has been playing the guitar for over 35 years. For the last 15+ years he has played guitar with the modern worship teams at two different churches. For over 5 years he taught guitar at the local elementary and middle schools. And since 2005 he has shared his love of the guitar with thousands of school children as part of the annual Great American Teach-In. Mike has played professionally as a session guitarist for several musical theater productions and as a long-time guitarist in his church's praise band. Mike holds a B.A. in Audio Recording and Production and worked as a radio DJ and music store manager for several years before moving into the technology sector. Mike has extensive experience as an audio engineer (FOH and studio) as well as video editing experience. During his 25+ years in the technology world Mike has been a corporate trainer, application developer, support consultant, and college professor, teaching I.T. classes at a local career college. Mike is constantly seeking new ways to merge his love of music with his technical background. Mike's teaching style is a mix of the theoretical and the practical. He believes in providing a solid "book knowledge" (chord theory, music reading, tab,etc.) but framed in a fun and engaging way that motives the student to want to play (and practice) their instrument. This is accomplished by using songs and musical styles that appeal to the student vs. simply "going by the book" all the time. Whether teaching music or computer skills, Mike has been blessed with the ability to translate the technical into "layman terms" so that the student can quickly grasp the concept without getting hung up on the "geek speak." As for how a typical lesson works with Mike, the student provides his/her own guitar and Mike will provide some printed reference material, audio samples, practice CDs, etc. Mike's specialties included rock and blues, help with equipment selection and setup (general guitar maintenance, effects usage/signal routing, etc.), and music theory, including traditional notation and guitar tabs.