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Private Music Lessons

For those who live or visit the San Francisco Bay Area,
I'm available for private lessons at my studio in Menlo Park, near Stanford University. I've taught literally thousands of students over the years, and bring that experience to your lessons. .

I teach most weekdays and evenings.
Adults usually schedule a one hour lesson once a week.
Younger students sometimes schedule half-hour lessons.

For classical guitar beginners, if possible, in the beginning, it is very useful to see me for 2 half-hour lessons per week, so that I can catch any bad technical habits early, and reinforce the correct hand positions etc. Not always possible with busy schedules I realize, but it does speed the process of establishing the fundamentals, which are so crucial to continued success.

Before or at the first lesson, I will hand out some questionnaires for you to fill out. Sometimes, especially for jazz players, and those with some music background, I might hand out a music theory test, or email you one, just to see what level your at, and help me to customize the lesson to your needs.

PLEASE be sure to read my policy letter.

I usually ask new students to bring a recording, tape, or CD of the style of music that they are excited about, no matter how difficult they think it is. If you just love Bach then I can steer you in that direction, or if you flip over flamenco, I can give you some simple flamenco techniques. So unlike a group class you get material custom suited to you..

I usually can find something on the CD that you can play, even if it is a chord. It's very motivating to have something to work on that you're excited about, and that you can relate to.

If you already play, I will ask you to play something, anything at all, just to see how your hands move, and from there I will first analyze what your technical needs are, and then the musical ones. You may have great feeling for the music, yet technique is the door that opens us to the realm of music, and allows you to express the music.

Once I've made an assessment, we can plan our course of action.

Here Are Some Common Questions

If you have never studied music privately, you may be feeling or thinking:

1. This guy is a professional, perhaps I'm not good enough
   to study with him.
   
   
2. I wonder if he is going to be real strict? I'm just an amateur.
   
3. Won't he be bored teaching beginners?
   
   
4. I'm feeling nervous exposing what I don't know about
   the guitar to a teacher.
   
   
5. What if I have all sorts of horrible habits I learned being self-taught?
   
   
6. I hate reading music, will I have to learn to read music?
   
   
7. What if I don't have as much time to practice as I'd like?
   
   
8. Will it take forever for me to become any good at playing the guitar?
   
   
9. Can I afford to study with him?
   
   
10. What are his teaching concepts and practices?
    
    
11. Does he have any guidelines for study and practice?
    

Answer 1

I've worked with all levels of players, from total beginners to concert artists. In fact, I like diagnosing a students technical and musical challenges and providing solutions. I can cut years off your learning curve, saving you time and money in the long run.

At any level, I've been there, I know what your going through. I try to be an understanding and compassionate coach.

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Answer 2

The only thing I'm strict about is consistency. You will make little progress without it. We will design your lesson schedule together according to YOUR needs. If you only have 30 minutes a day or 10 minutes to practice, that's fine, but I will encourage you to keep whatever level of commitment you decide. Of course, the more time you invest, the greater return on your investment.

I won't make you feel guilty if you don't have more time, some of you are learning guitar just as a de-stressor for your own enjoyment, with no aspirations of performing etc.

Some students study with me because they need someone to motivate them and provide structure, which I can do. And if you need someone to whip you into shape for a competition, I can do that too.

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Answer 3

I actually prefer total beginners. That way I can launch them correctly with no bad habits. I've been there, so I know what it's like, I understand what your going through. I'm very patient. I love to teach and enjoy sharing the gift of music with others.

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Answer 4

You are not alone! Can you imagine how nervous I was taking a lesson from one of the masters? I was! All I can say is, I've been there before and will be understanding and compassionate. We are exploring together, I may have been on the path longer than you, but I will learn from you too. We are equal partners, and by risking to expose what you don't know, (like the empty cup ) you can be filled with the joy of learning new and exciting things about playing music on the guitar. So empty yourself of all the limiting thought and prepare to have fun. After all it's hard to put anything in a cup that is already full. Everyday, I find some area of music that I have yet to explore. We are all lifelong learners.

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Answer 5

You will at first be discouraged at the news. It happened to me when I went to the San Francisco Conservatory. I was a pretty accomplished player, but I had some bad habits to unlearn, and it wasn't easy at first.
But after you see, hear and feel, how much easier playing correctly is, you will start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It will take patience, and you will have to pay attention, but in the long run you will start to move past the barriers that have kept you from progressing.

I can put you in touch with one of my students who at first was discouraged and on the verge of giving up, and now is much happier with his progress. He will tell you, bad habits can be replaced with good ones.

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Answer 6

You can learn the basic mechanics of playing the guitar without reading music. Actually it is better to do so in the beginning. That way you can focus on the correct use of your hands etc. You can still learn what you are doing, and learn scales, chords, music theory on the guitar. When you are able to play correctly without looking at your hands, you will be in the ideal place to start to read music should you wish to.

I've learned the hard way. . .people tend to learn things when they want to learn them. And I could talk until I'm blue in the face, but until your ready nothing I say will convince you. Yet, you will, at some point, know, now is the time, I'm ready, and you will do it.

Perhaps when you realize how much time will be saved learning a piece by being able to read music... For me I just got tired of taking hours to learn a few measures of my favorite piece.

At first I was overwhelmed at the prospect of reading music, so I evolved a method of learning to read music on the guitar that took the fear away. I can share it with you once you decide your up for it. There are many benefits of learning to read music, and I would highly recommend it, especially for classical players.

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Answer 7

We all go through that! Who has time for anything these days? I try to make the learning experience so enjoyable that you will want to practice. If you can be consistent that will do you the most good, it's not so much how much time, but how consistent. 15 minutes of focused work a day can add up to results. Don't let time be your excuse for not doing what you know you will love doing. And actually short concentrated time frames are more effective.
I had one student who only had time to play just at his lesson! We worked on sight reading, and you know what? He got better and better!

Later on when his time freed up, he was glad he had kept going with the regular lessons.
His subconscious apparently had been working even if he had not.
He would remember and mentally rehearse the tips I gave him as he played, and apply them the next lesson.

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Answer 8

It can seem like learning the guitar will take forever! Students seem to confirm this to themselves by asking how long I've been playing. Yes I've been playing a long time, but if you have that in your mind you won't consider yourself a player until you have been playing 30 years, you will have set yourself up for not enjoying and playing the guitar NOW. The idea is not to put your reward so far in the future that getting there is a chore.
For example, if I give you 3 notes, each about as easy to play as pushing an elevator button, you could in 5 minutes become an expert in those 3 notes, not a scuffling beginner, but you would be playing the guitar. Your choices would be limited, but you could permute those 3 notes, play different rhythms, play loud, soft, etc. And have a musical experience. The reward would be NOW. If you put your reward 20 years away, then getting to that point can feel a drudge and not very rewarding. If you learn one arpeggio and can play the heck out of it in different situation and really use it, you will be way ahead of the game.

I like to create successes for students, each little one building on the next, and each success will motivate you to play even more. Pretty soon you will be having so much fun exploring that time will stop, and the cares of the world will stop and you will be picking and grinning! and having a great time. :-)

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Answer 9

My fees are not the cheapest I realize, yet they reflect the very high cost of living in the Bay Area, and the level of my experience, and expertise, not only as a teacher but as a player.

I have a colleague who is a local piano teacher who charges $135 an hour, at that rate my lessons are a bargain. . . :-) He says I don't charge enough, and perhaps I don't, but my goal is to spread the joy of music and make a difference.

Did you know that
Tennis lessons are $50 to $65 hr.
Fitness trainers are $60-$75 hr.
Golf lessons are $80 - $100hr

In fact just about any personalized service is in the same range.
And with the last upsurge in rents in the area I was forced to raise my rates accordingly. And they have not been lowered since the Silicon Valley bust.

I've had students come to me who have spent a lot of money over a period of time, only to find out that they missed many of the essential fundamental techniques of playing guitar, and had indeed picked up some very bad habits, that have kept them from progressing further.This problem is usually from inexperienced young players, teaching out of local music stores. The stores often don't care about how qualified a teacher is, as long as the teacher can play well enough to impress prospective students and bring business into the store.

I've had to try and fix the some of the problems that students have come in with after taking such lessons. It really slows down the students progress to have to fight bad habits, and re-learn something.

Not to say that there are not good teachers in the stores, (I used to teach out of one. In a cramped little room with no air conditioning and the noise of other lessons being taught next door), but being a player does not necessarily mean that the person can teach.

Unfortunately, some teachers, although cheaper per lesson, actually cost students more in the long run. Not only financially but in the most precious commodity we all have which is time. I know this can be most discouraging. Some of my jazz student have told me that they learned in a few lessons more than they learned in ten years of study!

Some teachers drag the release of information out to keep the students coming. I hand out the basics of my system up front: a packet of sheets that cover the basic tools of music, scales, arpeggios and pentatonics, theory etc. so you will have a map of the fingerboard where you can eventually see in an instant where things are.

So save yourself some grief in the long run, don't just consider price alone.

Music training is not a cost. It's an investment. It really doesn't matter what we pay for an investment. What's relevant is what we get in return. One of the best ways to jeopardize a musicians future in today's world and increase the probability of troubled times is to look at training as a cost and pay the price of not training or provide substandard training that operates only as a Band-Aid for the training requirements.

It's a simple principle. A musician is where they are currently, in terms of competence and success, in direct relationship to what they know and how well they apply what they know. We all come into this world the same way, broke and naked. (And we all leave the same way: broke, they give us some clothes.) We knew how to do nothing when we arrived but then we learned. The more we learned and knew and the more we applied what we knew, the greater our success

Many find it difficult to get the time for training. This is another false economy. (They are so busy doing it the wrong way that they cannot take out a little time to figure out how to do it the right way.) When someone says they cannot afford to take one hour out of their next week for training, I know they are looking at training as an "expense", and not as an "investment".

Although, a good half of my livelihood comes from teaching, (the other from playing) I've never turned away a serious student for lack of funds. There are often options, such as trade for services etc.

If you have a service or skill I could use, like accounting, taxes, organizing, cleaning etc. Let me know and I would be glad to try and work out a win/win situation.

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Answer 10

Thoughts I keep in mind when teaching:

• How and what students practice is as important as how
  much they practice.
• Teach students to put information to immediate use
  
• Teach on a gradient scale easy to hard
  
• Approach challenging skills gradually
  
• Forming good habits of learning and practice is essential to secure playing.
  
• Avoid confusion and error at all costs.
  
• Develop security and confidence.
  
  This comes from two things:
  
  • Accuracy: no missed or flubbed notes. Also, intended fingerings, tone and interpretation.
    
  • Continuity: playing the piece from start to finish without hesitations.
    
    
• The the mental preparation of a technical movement is necessary for the correct application of that movement.
  
• It is the mind that directs the fingers.
  
• Teach students to avoid the enemies of concentration:
  
  • Confusion
    
  • Anxiety
    
  • Boredom
    
  • Fatigue

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Answer 11

Some Guidelines for Study and Practice:

• Always practice with a definite aim.
• Carefully study each directive until you clearly understand it.
  
• Acquire the habit of sustained concentration.
  
• Proceed one step at a time.
  
• Don't expect to feel comfortable with the guitar at first.
• It takes time to find a balanced & comfortable position.
  
• Don't expect to immediately retain all that you achieved
  during your last practice sesson.
• Challenge yourself.
  
• Maintain a balanced approach.
  
• Remember that sufficient preparation and training are all
  that stand between you and the ability to play the guitar.

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