I first heard music on the radio when I was a kid and started singing the latest songs and even memorizing some of my favorites. I would sing them to myself when the radio wasn’t around. I decided in 2nd grade that I should play guitar. I found it very hard to do at first and quit after around 7 months of lessons. But I knew I would return to it. I remember telling my parents I would learn to play. I’m pretty sure they didn’t believe me, but at 9 years old I went back to lessons and  almost (gulp!) 50 years later I’m still playing, performing live, and recording music.

Playing guitar is more than just playing an instrument to me. Playing guitar has helped me understand life and learning in many ways. Also the guitar has become a friend of mine. It’s always there for me. (The acoustic guitar is even available during power outages!)

When I started teaching I thought a lot about why I quit guitar in 2nd grade. I believe that my teacher didn’t do anything wrong… technically. The problem was more that the things I was learning not only didn’t inspire me – it discouraged me! Even at that early age, I was inspired to learn coming into the lessons, however starting off with months of playing single notes and no songs took the wind out of my sails. I wanted to play what I was listening to on the radio. I wanted to play “Sunshine”, by Jonathan Edwards. I didn’t care about playing the single note melody lines from “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” or “Mary Had a Little Lamb” (the pre Stevie Ray Vaughan version!).

My guitar teaching method is that to play the notes and or chords correctly, you do not have to know all the theory behind what you are playing. I have been teaching guitar for 30 years. My goal is to understand what the student is looking for in playing music. What types of music do they enjoy listening to? Is there a musician that they look up to? If so, why and what is it about them that they like? I start students out, who have never played guitar before, by playing songs they like within the 1st or 2nd lesson, which inspires students and help them see early on that their dreams are reachable. This is the key to keeping a student motivated to play. As the playing continues I help the student understand what is happening theory-wise so they have a better understanding of music and guitar as a whole.