1. Please have a quality webcam and good lighting. Good lighting = clear motion.
2. Please have a dedicated notepad ready. I will always give you time to write and catch up any notes you need to take. Writing = better learning than typing.
3. Please have a guitar in a standard tuning. This helps us communicate exercises and music quickly. Standard tuning means E standard, Eb standard, D standard, etc.
4. Capo
Regular lesson rate is $60 / hour or $220 for 4 hours per month. Please schedule a single lesson first to see if we are a good fit.
Lessons cannot be recorded, except when I give explicit permission for you to record a portion of the teaching.
Lessons are on Zoom. The link will always be the same.
Lessons are non-refundable. If you need to reschedule, there is a link provided on the automatically created calendar event.
Please use it.If you need to reschedule, notify me at least 24 hours in advance to avoid losing the credit for your lesson.
Celebrate incremental progress.
Keep playing, even if you don't see the path forward. Trust that breakthroughs will reveal themselves to you as a reward for consistency.
The river cuts the canyon.
Practice to 95% perfection, then move on. You will move further faster by exposing yourself to new challenges than investing weeks or months trying to get perfection. Eventually, the things you once struggled with will become easy.
Gates are the enemy of training clean playing. Practice without them and see how your playing naturally cleans itself up.
Practice playing perfectly for initial learning, but beyond that, always be pushing your limit. Routinely practice to 105%+ speed so that 100% speed becomes EASY.
No. I'm very good at diagnosing problems with technique. I will then assign you a series of short, specific exercises to help you work on these issues specifically.
From there, we'll talk about your goals as a player and what you want to play. Then, we'll collaborate on choosing songs that will expand your skill to get you there.
There is no minimum commitment for lessons. However, progress is best achieved through consistency and time compression. If you don't have a reason to get it done, you usually won't do it. It's basic goal setting psychology.
That's why I recommend planning on doing at least 4x, 1-hour lessons at a pace of one per week. It's a good pace for a busy, yet committed person to see progress and get enough guidance to where they will see results.
Growing up, music lessons often felt "oppositional" to me... If I couldn't play the piece perfectly, I was a failure. I had done bad and I was bad. This is not the experience I want for you.
Lessons are a place where you're allowed mess up, fail, and ask questions. The way to bring out the best in someone is to encourage them to become the best version of themselves!
That said, I'm going to tell you where you can improve and how you can improve. "Getting good" is not easy, but it's available to anyone with the dedication.
Lessons generally flow about like this:
I'll ask what you've been working on and where you've been struggling. We'll dive into diagnosing WHY that problem exists and build around it. Unlike other music teachers, I will force you to practice DURING the lesson to make sure 1) you're practicing the concept correctly, and 2) you really start to understand how to practice effectively. Just like in my videos, I'll use a 1-2 minute timer and coach you through.
At the end, we'll go over your specific assignments for the week. You are responsible for writing them down.
Rinse and repeat.
Plan your work and work your plan.
I'm here to coach you along when you get stuck. :-)