Frequently Asked Questions

YES! I believe you can learn anything as long as you have the desire, and put the time in to learn and practice. While some people may have more innate ability than others, anybody can learn if they really want to.

The guitar has many traits that set it apart from other instruments. If you've tried different instruments in the past without success, 

I think you'll find the guitar lends itself to early results that will keep you excited throughout the learning process.

You also need a good teacher. I had an incredible teacher. I also had bad ones. A good player doesn't make a good teacher. A bad player doesn't make a good teacher either. You need a teacher that can adapt to you and what you want to get out of the guitar. I have a system, but it is tailored to each individual based on their goals. I will NOT ask you to play music you don't enjoy. I may ask WHY you don't like something, and we can use that in our theory discussions to see WHY you don't like it, and how the music you do like is structured. 

Lessons are a dynamic and evolving process, tailored to you.

Yes, the first lesson is free and more of an interview. 

I want to learn about you, what brought you to the guitar, what are your goals?

I'll explain my teaching methods and present solutions for your playing goals.

Plan for 1 to 2 hours for this first session.

If you decide you want to sign up, lessons are booked in 1 hour blocks. I usually teach about 45 minutes, but if we're on to something or you have questions, I don't want to say 'DING!' times up, and cut you off. 

Lessons are $20. 

If you've looked around, you will notice this is lower than normal. This is not a business for me, this is something I enjoy outside my normal job. I've always prided myself on not using my 'art' as my livelihood, and this keeps music from ever being 'work' for me.

But since this is not my primary job, I might need to cancel on rare occasions for work.

No. In fact, if you've never played before, I'd like to meet with you before you purchase one. I have a lot of different guitars. You can try a few and see what style suits you. 

We'll go over the different parts of the guitar so you'll know what you're looking at. We can take our time in a relaxed environment, rather than a busy store. 

I do not sell guitars, so I can give advice without monetary concerns.

Absolutely. Maybe someone gave you a guitar, or you bought one a while back and it needs some maintenance. Even new guitars often need adjustment after being shipped and displayed in a store.

Guitars react to changes in the weather and the oils from our hands. A guitar that is out of adjustment, or has old, oxidized strings can be difficult to play.

I will teach you how to restring, adjust and clean your guitar to keep it playing its best.

I can make minor repairs, and can give you recommendations if anything major is needed.

Electric. I'll hand you both to show you why.

An acoustic guitar's large body is what creates volume. But it also makes it more difficult to play. The guitar sits away from you, and you have to lean over it to see your hands. They also use heavier strings and require more pressure to play. Not a problem when you've been playing a while, but unnecessary when you're starting out.

A cheap electric is a better instrument than a cheap acoustic. An acoustic guitar's hollow construction takes care to build and makes it susceptible to changes in the weather. Electrics are simple to build, and you don't need an amp right away. You're better off waiting until you get comfortable playing and understand the build of an acoustic, and buying a higher quality acoustic guitar.

Some people say you start on an acoustic guitar, fight through it, then an electric guitar will be easy. I disagree. That's like riding a unicycle before trying a bike. Start easy, then build up.

If you really want to start on an acoustic, you can, and are certainly welcome to. But the electric is easier to start. 

It is less strings, but the role a bass plays in a song is very different from a regular guitar. 

And you will learn its role, along with some piano, drums and singing! Too often guitar players focus on just the guitar, and forget that music is many instruments working together. I'll show you how music theory is applied to other instruments, and what part those instruments play in a song.

This will help you play better with others. You can speak to a song better when you know what role the other instruments play, and bandmates will respect you for taking the time to learn about their craft.

Yes, there are a lot of great guitar players that did not have formal lessons. Most took the long route to what formal lessons could show them.

They learned things from friends or records, countless hours of practice and pieced their style together. But a lot of them have trouble when taken out of their comfort zone. 

I want you to understand what you are playing. I don't want you to just say 'this sounds cool'. I want you to know WHY it sounds cool. 

I will teach you the music system so you can play what you like and easily find the music in your head. Your style will come from you and how you put it all together.

By the way, Eddie Van Halen was not self taught. He had years of piano and music lessons. His innovation is how he physically played the guitar, creating his own style, aided by his wide exposure to music. He also practiced 12 hours a day...

Yes, you need theory. Music theory and scales are not just for lead guitar soloing - although guitarist do get caught up in that. 

But we're not doing academic music theory. We're learning what I like to call Practical Music Theory.

Learning how songs are constructed will show you how they relate to each other. As a strummer/singer, you will find lots of 'free songs' - songs that are very similar to others you know, and you can quickly add them to your playlist.

Depends on what you want to do. I have very experienced students that might come a few times a year to work on specific tasks or 

ask me for challenges to enhance their style. Others like once a week, or twice a month, even if they're experienced, to have dedicated guitar time away from other responsibilities.

In the beginning once a week is good. When you're comfortable, we can always adjust.

NEVER.

I often hear "kids learn things quicker". My experience has been "kids don't realize how bad they are playing". 

The beginning is tough, just like anything. There are physical hand movements that take time to develop. The problem is, as an adult, you know it should sound better, and you get frustrated. 

Think about when you learned to write. You were a kid with a kid vocabulary. You wrote simple words, because that's your frame of reference. As you matured, the physical skill of writing progressed with your language skills. 

Grab a pen and write your name. 

Now write your name with your off hand. 

See how frustrating that is? That's because you have an adult's language skills with a 6-year old's physical skills. Your brain is trying to force your hand to be at its level. 

Now think about music. How long have you been listening to music? You know what something should sound like, and your hands aren't listening to you. 

Kids have the same physical hurdle, but without the decades of music experience. They're happy to bang away on it, and by the time they've matured a bit, they're through the rough beginning. Kids also have loads of free time that adults don’t get.  

When you see a proficient child play, there’s a massive amount of practice behind the scenes. Playing the instrument is a physical skill. Someone may be a musical prodigy – have an innate understanding of music beyond their years - but there’s no such thing as a physical prodigy. Athletes have certain gifts, but they still need to practice. Their biggest gift is a DRIVE for the game that keeps them working at it. 

You don't need to be tall or run fast or jump high to play guitar. Just need to get your hands moving.

To show the physical part to students, I'll flip my guitar over and trying to play lefty. All of my music knowledge is still there, but I can't play because my hands won't listen to me.  

Funny enough, just doing that demo over the years, I'm gaining a bit of skill playing lefty! Just shows you it doesn't take long to work through the start. Stick with it, and you'll get a lifetime of enjoyment back. 

Maybe? I understand wanting to start your child on something early. Maybe you wished you started playing as a child and you want your kid to start early.

I wish I started earlier. I wish I took it more seriously before I started taking lessons from Jeff. But that's the natural evolution of things, 

and if my parents tried to force me to do it, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it and quit.

There's nothing wrong with keeping a guitar around the house and letting a child go to it on their own. Or if their interest wanes, keep it around, and they'll go back when they are ready. It's a creative process, and you can't force creativity.

Everyone's different. Contact me, we'll talk and see what's best.

I have a background in Rock, Metal, Pop, Blues and Country. I do a good bit of Jazz, but true Jazz study is a whole other topic.

My goal is to teach you the music system, so you can see how it's used in different styles. You can use this knowlege to learn different styles or create your own.

No. I can accommodate more students if you come to me. All of my equipment is set up in a clean, dedicated private studio, without distractions.

Zoom/Skype lessons only work for advanced players to talk theory and ideas. I need to be able to see your hands from different angles 

to check technique, or to see a solution if you are having an issue with a chord. I need to be able to see the full guitar in your hands, so I can watch the picking and fretting hands at work together. 

Also, the sound is just not there playing over Zoom. Unless you have a really high end setup, its going to sound tinny and choppy, and that's just not fun.

If you're not in the area, have playing proficiency and really want to work on theory, Contact Me and we'll work something out.

I'll show you how it works, but unless you want to play in an orchestra, its not necessary. Sheet music is great for being able to play new music on the fly. But you're going to want to learn a song you've heard before, and there's easier ways than sight reading sheet music.

The guitar has a simplifed notation system called Tablature. We'll use this for most notating.

There are other shorthand methods for taking notes as well. We'll talk about your playing goals and find what system is best for you.

Not in the least. If you are really dedicated to anything, its common to have multiple teachers, coaches, teams, leagues, etc. More knowlege is a good thing.

School of Rock is a great program, but some kids don't want to do the performances. Or they only want to do the performances and they want a different lesson structure. Or if you're an adult... you might feel out of place.

YouTube is a great resource, but its a one sided conversation. Lessons should be an interaction, an open discussion. 

If you watch an interesting YouTube video and have questions on what's presented, I am happy to watch it and answer your questions. 

Lessons are your time. I always have material to present, but if you come across something that you want to delve into, that's always welcome. 

By presenting you with new ways to look at scales and break out of them. Scales are the safe notes. Think about how often you play 'The Box' without focusing on the intervals you're playing? We'll work on all those lovely passing tones that give character to our songs.

And we'll work on phrasing. How to get out of playing scales blindly and to focus on what we really want to say. 

As musicians, we're never done learning. I'm never done learning. I continue to study, practice and question other musicians. 

That's the wonderful thing with music, you're never done. There's always more to discover.

Always! I love talking guitar.