Private Bluegrass Guitar tutoring lessons Cowpens, SC.

I am a student of the blues, roots and country and I have been teaching music to kids and adults for over five years. I have played in Asheville, North Carolina-based bands for over 10 years. My specialty and passion is fingerstyle Piedmont Blues (but I teach other styles as well). I try to gear each lesson to my students' strengths and make learning music fun!

I offer Intermediate and Advanced Guitar Lessons for electric, acoustic, and bass guitar. I have over 20 years playing and songwriting experience, including live shows, recordings, and tours; I've been lead guitarist for the metal band Locusta since 2006. I've been teaching guitar for 14 years and have had thousands of hours of teaching experience in that time.

Lessons are available on advanced topics such as music theory, songwriting, lead guitar technique, sweep picking, and classical guitar (i.e. Bach/Spanish guitar), as well as non-guitar specific subjects like home and studio recording, ear training, rhythm, and drum programming (no drum experience necessary). Personalized lessons are offered as well as structured 4 to 8 week courses on specific subjects.

I mainly specialize in rock and metal but enjoy listening to and teaching classical, jazz, (old)country, blues, funk, or almost any other kind of music. I play in a death metal band and my favorite guitar players range ...

An experienced teacher of 10 years, I offer student-led lessons that help you grow musically. If you put in the work, you will see results!

We can learn your favorite songs, and use the guitar as a tool to learn and understand music theory in the process. Learn 3 fingerstyle fingerpicking, flat picking, traditional music, blues, rock, and bluegrass.

I believe that learning music should be as fun and inspiring as it can be to play. We all have a vast wellspring of creative energy within us, and the goal of the relationship between the student and the teacher is to help nurture and develop that latent talent. For this reason, my approach to teaching music is highly individualized. I start out with the premise that the student has unique gifts and my job is to help them discover what those are, and develop and refine them in order to make beautiful and deeply satisfying music, through whatever instrument and in whatever style they are drawn towards.

Depending on one's starting level of experience, some basic exercises will be assigned to develop core skills, with increasing levels of technical challenge and complexity. Elements of music theory will be woven into practical lessons. Students will have the choice to incorporate material from popular and familiar music into their studies, and as they progress they will be encouraged to

Learn to play lead, rhythm, jam, improvise

Beginner to advanced, ages 12 and up

Private in-studio lessons tailored to your level and goals

If you’re just starting, we’ll begin with
Basic technique (holding the pick, struming)
Playing chords
Playing simple melodies

As you advance, you’ll be working on

Good tone production
Keeping solid time
Alternating bass patterns, single-string lead notes
Various picking techniques, dynamics, fingering
Variations, ornamentation, slides, hammers, pulls
Learning your favorite licks
Increasing repertoire
Learning more complex rhythms and improvisations
Developing fast and clean picking

Learn by tab, standard notation, or by ear

We'll focus on tunes you want to play, or take a broader approach incorporating reading music, ear training and theory

Gary is a professional touring/recording guitarist,composer
and member of PERE UBU, ROCKET FROM THE TOMBS AND THE LEGENDARY SHACK SHAKERS.
A Graduate of Berkee College of Music, he has over 30 years of experience teaching and performing. He specializes in Contemporary and Classical Guitar. Lessons focus on the application of Music Theory to Guitar to help students acquire strong compositional and songwriting skills, knowledge of chord construction, the ability to play scales proficiently, and gain necessary skills needed for solo improvisation. In addition to a wealth of teaching experience, he has toured extensively throughout North America and Europe and has numerous songwriting credits on international releases.