About Me:
I have been playing guitar since 1983, and have been
performing and teaching professionally in a variety of
venues since 1991. Currently I sing and play guitar at
weddings, corporate events, birthday parties and other
events as a "One Man Band" - a completely self-sufficient
musician who plays to background tracks through a sound
system (click here
for my One Man Band website). I also play in a
top-rated wedding band, Emerald Empire (emeraldempire.com).
I studied classical guitar at Kennesaw State University,
and jazz guitar at Georgia State University. In addition
to taking 6 years of vocal lessons through middle and
high school, I attended choir classes from 7th grade
through my college years, and attended the Governor's
Honors program in my junior year for voice (where I
minored in an advanced theory class). In addition, I have
picked up skills in other instruments along the way to
supplement and diversify my professional portfolio. My
performance experience includes numerous restaurants,
weddings, corporate events, parties, and working with various
celebrity impersonators. For my full music education and career timeline,
check out my ("Credentials and
Affiliations") writeup on Lessonface.com."
My Teaching Philosophy
Ever notice that musicians say they
"play" their instrument, while the audience members like
to say the musicians are really "working" it? That's
because the musicians are having way more fun than the
audience ever suspects most of the time! I get a student
now and then who has specific goals such as wanting to
prepare for an audition or college exam, or even just to
get better at sight reading or songwriting, and I have
the skills, credentials, and ability to take any of
these students where they want to go.
However, the majority of students I
teach come to me for fun reasons- they want to learn to
make music without a specific agenda. In other words,
most just want to pursue a new hobby and see where it
goes. I've taught every kind of age range, from
teenagers looking for something extracurricular and fun
to grown adults wanting to check off their "I always
wanted to do this" list, to recently retired folks with
more free time. Although I can help you achieve goals
with a more traditional "brass tacks" approach, my
philosophy is largely centered around providing the
service of teaching you something new and making it fun
and rewarding!
I also believe strongly in teaching
the student using their favorite music, so I encourage
them all to bring in their iPods, Android phones, or any
other MP3 player or smartphone that can play MP3s and
has a headphone "out" jack. This way, there is a reward
beyond just my encouragement when their playing starts
sounding like the song they are familiar with. And along
the way, I use the songs they like as a vehicle to teach
important musical concepts they need to know.
We all learn at different rates and
with different styles. I believe if a student doesn't
understand what I'm teaching, them I'm not explaining it
right for their way of thinking, so I try to adjust to
each student's way of thinking as soon as I can figure
that out. From that point on, I try to communicate in
their "language" if I can, and stick with what works for
them.
If you have any further questions I
couldn't answer here, check out my FAQ
section.
