I began my musical education at the age of 11, playing the clarinet in the grade school band, and continued to play with the concert, marching, and jazz bands throughout middle and high school. During this period I was trained to read music charts, understand and apply music theory, and exposed to different types of music in various group settings. With a continuing passion for music, I picked up the guitar at the age of 15 and began playing in local rock bands, composing original material, and released my first album at the age of 18. After high school, I continued touring the nation for several years with my band, playing over 1000 shows, and sharing the stage with such acts as The Black Crowes, Blues Traveler, Rusted Root, John Scofield, and The Wailers.
In 2004 I moved to Chicago and began teaching private lessons. In the past four years I've taught over 2000 lessons to over a 100 different students. With my teaching approach, I try to stress the basics of music and the guitar (open chords, barre chords, major/minor scales, basic music theory, etc.) and try to incorporate the musical styling (rock, blues, pop, jazz, funk, country, etc.) the student is interested in playing. I focus on song structure, soloing and improvisation, and for those interested, songwriting and singing and playing.
In the past few years, I have been working with Little Star Guitar, a program specifically designed for children, teaching the basics of guitar in a group setting. I have been a part of designing the curriculum, testing the program, and teaching the classes. |
