Guitar Lessons

What does it take to improve on your instrument?

Patience, consistency, determination, and of course, aptitude can't hurt.

But the best students (and eventually, the best musicians) are the ones that cannot put their instruments down. As a teacher, this is my goal: to make playing the guitar so engaging, so satisfying, and (as often as possible) so fun that learning how to play it is like diving into an amazing book, one that keeps you up well into the night needing to read what happens next. This is what the guitar was to me when I began playing it, and it still is.

With beginners, I focus on open-string chords (G, C, Am, etc.) and basic right hand technique (strumming, picking, fingerpicking), introducing scales, linear patterns, and more advanced chords after a few months of playing. Intermediate students learn more about chord formation and working out of various neighborhoods and positions on the fretboard, as well as further exploration of scales, introduction to the modes and basic music theory. With advanced students, we work on creating one's own vocabulary of chord voicings, advanced linear patterns, more theory, and improvisation. At every level, I offer advice about songwriting, composition, and arranging (if sought).

With all students, I try to help them learn whatever style of music will keep them eager to learn, and I try to expose them to unfamiliar music that may stimulate them further. For example, I was studying with an intermediate student who loves indy and progressive rock, and somewhere in between lessons built around radiohead and broken social scene songs, we got into Brazilian samba music and began to work on bossas, chorus, etc. Music is music; you never know what will rock your world next.

A little more about me: I remained self-taught into my 20s and was studying medicine instead, but music kept calling until I finally went back to college to study music full-time. I received a B.M. in classical composition from SFSU, and have been playing and teaching full-time since. I play with projects ranging from jazz to post-rock, hip-hop, Latin, classical, and everything I can get into. Some of the musical highlights from the last year include playing with a 50-piece hip-hop symphony at the Palace of Fine Arts, and playing with my mouth open in amazement as Stevie Wonder walked onstage to sing with my band at the Coda Lounge. 2010 will be the first year I play the Hollywood Bowl and the Montreal Jazz festival, with some other milestones in the works.

With guitar lessons, the very best I can do is to help you become your own teacher!

Also, for students, I can work out a discount, otherwise I charge $40/hour and $25/half hour.

Paz,
Jon Monahan

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