Guitar Lessons, Bass Lessons & Piano Lessons. Patient, individualized instruction.

Q. Describe the most common types of jobs you do for your clients.

A. I generally teach my guitar students songs, each with a lesson and gradually they learn to read music. Learning to read music at first is very technical but when the student stays with it something magical happens, they enter the world of classical guitar. One of my younger students just left the point of simply learning notes and melodies and has started to play simple classical guitar.

This is a huge jump, it represents a skill that one will appreciate their entire lives. It opens new worlds and provides great material to perform for others.

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. I am an energetic, enthusiastic teacher that adjusts to the modalities of my students.

I love to teach music lessons and have been doing so since high school.

I teach well rounded musical lessons, the kind that have been proven to build the brain. Research shows serious music students build more neurons and structures in their brain accounting for why they do better in all academic subjects. It literally makes the brain smarter.

It's never to early or young for lessons. I have students from 3 years old to 92.

I am Positive Oriented, focus on praise and successive approximation, the gradual shaping of technique and learning so the student is always receiving honest praise while improving.

Find a musician, a teacher that teaches using real music, not tab, so that you can play any kind of music. The Talmud says to find a teacher that wants to teach more than you want to learn. I am such a teacher.

I teach in my home or your home. Obviously I have to charge more depending on the distance.

I'll use a sliding scale so any child can get lessons in this day and age.

Look for credentials:

I am a member of Muzika and teach for them ensuring I am one of the highest qualified teachers and they perform background checks.

I am a member of the Davis Music Teachers Association.

Q. If you were a customer, what do you wish you knew about your trade? Any inside secrets to share?

A. Always focus on the positive. Negative comments and punishment only produce negative side effects.

I also use an IPAD 2 video recorder to record what the student is doing and show it right back to them, showing them what they did right. It really revolutionized my teaching and the students really love it.

I will create YouTube videos for the students to practice with if a lesson requires a partner.

Q. What questions should a consumer ask to hire the right service professional?

A. Is the teacher a well rounded professional musician?
Does the teacher have impressive credentials?
Has the teacher had background checks? (Muzika performs background checks.)
Does the teacher have extensive performance experience? I have been performing since high school.

Does the teacher have the academic credentials and understand cognition and music. I am a Certified Music Teacher with an MA in Music from Columbia University.

Does the teacher LOVE to teach? I provide patient, individualized lessons motivating and unique for each student.

Does the teacher adjust to each student's learning modality? I do.

Q. What important information should buyers have thought through before seeking you out?

A. Lessons should be positive oriented, encouraging, and taught by an expert instructor. Seek a teacher that has a solid academic background as well as extensive performance experience. I am a Certified Music Teacher, have an MA in Music from Columbia University, worked my way through college strictly as a musician. Currently I play with the University of Davis Symphony Orchestra as well as odd Jazz and Rock gigs.

For 12 years I played with the most active Big Jazz Band in Florida on upright and electric bass, or I performed some gigs on Guitar.

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

A. Patient, Personalized Instruction in all aspects of music.
I believe that each student is unique and all lessons are designed for the individual. I am positively oriented.

I use an IPAD2 to videotape my students and then provide them immediate feedback showing the students their performance. This is unique.

I teach all styles of music, from classical, jazz, rock, country and folk. I teach students how to play in a combo.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. I love to teach. Thus, I am very enthusiastic and energetic.
Patient Personalized Lessons mean that my lessons are customized for the learning styles and modalities of the student. It is my job to teach the student what they want to know while expanding their concepts and knowledge.
I love the research that demonstrates serious musical study improves student's brains.

Einstein attributed his abilities on learning the violin as a toddler.

Q. What are the latest developments in your field? Are there any exciting things coming in the next few years or decade that will change your line of business?

A. There is incredible research showing that the serious study of music actually makes children smarter. They build more neurons and circuitry in their brain that are used for many purposes. Similarly, MRI studies show that musicians for structures in their brains that are later used for concepts in math and science. Thus, if you want to develop an intelligent, creative scientist or engineer, start them with serious music lessons.