Guitar Instruction

Recently I've had a few people contact me about guitar lessons. I had given guitar lessons in the past but hadn't taught in a number of years, concentrating mainly on practice and performance. I was once a guitar instructor at Tidewater Community College for music majors. A couple of months ago I decided to start taking on students and I've had a great time teaching. So far I've been blessed with students who actually practice and listen to instruction well and I'm seeing great improvement. It has had unforeseen benefits for me as well. My own focus in my playing has improved sharply. It has gotten me to "practice what I preach" and has helped me become a better "practicer" and ergo, a better player.

I think of my style of teaching as intuitive and it is based on teaching students to learn to really focus on what they are doing. It sounds simple, and it is, but how often do we really focus in our day to day lives? It takes practice, but it is applicable to any aspect of life. I recently read an article by web guitar guru Jamie Andreas on what she calls "perfect intention". Perfect Intention, as she describes it is hearing music "being played by someone who is investing every particle of themselves into every note, the totality of their physical, mental, and emotional selves". That's a pretty heady statement and it describes well the kind of focus I'm taking about. If you'd like to read Jamie's full article, click here.

I truly believe that anyone can learn to play guitar and I base my teaching on aiming for this kind of perfect focus and applying it to the guitar. If it has a spillover effect on other aspects of your life, so much the better. Learning the guitar is a lifelong experience. A very fun and rewarding lifelong experience. If you really want to learn to play the guitar and this brief description of my approach appeals to you, I hope you'll contact me.



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