Private Acoustic Guitar tutoring lessons Gainesville, VA.

I structure my lessons so students learn what they want to learn, while also building a strong foundation of piano and guitar skills. I typically use Alfred's Basic books: lesson, technic, and theory books. I also provide students with homework sheet that explains what we have been focusing on, what they have achieved, and what is the expectation for next lesson.

Each lesson is tailored to fit each individual student. We will cover genres of music that's of interest to you, using music you enjoy most so learning the instrument will be fun. Even if you have experience playing acoustic guitar, I will be able to show you alternative strum patterns, useful techniques, tricks and short-cuts to make playing easier. I have a blast teaching and my students have fun learning!

David enjoys teaching students from all different backgrounds and levels of proficiency. Whether you are just starting out or a virtuoso shredder in the making, he is happy to teach you! Over all, he is fairly laid back, as long as you practice. He usually combines work with reading off of the treble clef (what he likens to "eating your vegetables." You may not want to do it, but it will make you a healthier musician!) with learning more popular songs (or songs the student says they would like to learn) through tablature and chord charts, depending on the style of the song.

David is also very pro music theory. He usually incorporates music theory into the curriculum in conjunction with the material already being discussed. He is also very knowledgeable about composition/songwriting, and if the student is interested in learning more about this area, he is happy to share what he knows!

I teach both flat pick and finger style acoustic guitar including basic Travis picking.

If you or someone in your family would like to learn to play the guitar, I have had years of experience and would love to assist. I teach using a note reading approach as well as a finger strumming technique that I believe is the best way to approach learning the guitar. Let's get started today!

My goal as a teacher is to give you the facility to express yourself through music. The key parts to developing this facility are:

1. theory -- if you know your theory, you know the best way to express your idea without having to think about it
2. technique -- the last thing you want is for your technique to hinder your ability to express your idea. Having good technique lets your ideas flow naturally

When you take lessons with me, you get out of it what you put in. Your job as student is to be honest with what you expect to achieve and my job as teacher is to give you the tools to achieve it