Guitar Lessons

I teach electric and acoustic guitar, and specialize in beginner to intermediate students..

I offer private lessons in my studio and mobile instruction. For mobile instruction, I serve Northwest Albuquerque, west of the Rio Grande as far as 98th Street, and north of I-40 as far as Ellison.

For the reasoning behind the area I serve, please see my FAQ page.

Private lessons in my studio are for individuals only due to Albuquerque zoning laws, which do not permit me to accept more than one customer at a time. Mobile lessons may be for individuals or for groups that you set up. This may be very cost effective for families or home school environments. Click this link to see my fees.

I am currently researching what it would take to rent commercial space for group lessons, such that they could be delivered in a cost-effective manner.

If you know of a school cafeteria, church basement, or similar location for rent in Rio Rancho or Albuquerque's West Side, please contact me here with details. Similarly, if you represent a charitable venture that is interested in providing music instruction to needy or handicapped children, please contact me.

Photo by Geraldine Rapetti

My Qualifications

I have been playing guitar, studying music, and composing since 1982. Although I took every music class my schools had to offer (and then invented one), most of my instruction has been private. I have studied guitar with Jamie Andreas in upstate New York since 2005 and teach her Principles method exclusively. In addition I have taken voice and keyboard lessons. I currently study voice with Carmen Acosta at the Creative Arts Studio in Albuquerque.

My Specialties and Limitations

I specialize in beginner guitarists and in people with playing problems due to bad habits or poor technique. I use the Principles method to build a solid technical foundation for the student, and I help the student build up a playing repertoire appropriate to his or her skill level.

If you are a more experienced guitarist who is working on intermediate material but suffering from bad technique and playing problems, I may be able to help you but need to see you in action first. To correct technical flaws or bad habits it's sometimes necessary to go back to more elementary exercises.

I teach both electric and acoustic guitar. My main areas of focus are rock, blues, with some heavy metal and introductory jazz.

I do not specialize in classical or Flamenco guitar. If you are interested in those styles, I will take you through the basics of finger style, and once you reach a more intermediate stage I will refer you to a teacher who specializes in that style.

The Methodology I Use: Jamie Andreas's Principles Method:

“The Principles Of Correct Practice For Guitar”, by my teacher Jamie Andreas, is the only textbook or method book I require for all guitar students. Other method books may be appropriate depending on the style you are studying and your level of development. One size most definitely does not fit all.

The Principles Method is a step by step, scientific approach to teaching the guitar. Based on a thorough study of ergonomics and kinesiology, the Principles Method approaches guitar playing as a physical process, introducing movements one at a time in an order optimized for easier and more reliable development of technique. "The Principles" contains special exercises and key concepts that must be understood and used in order to learn the guitar efficiently. It also contains instructions as to how to practice in such a way that will create improvement. Jamie devleoped the Principles after decades of research and experimentation, and by teaching literally thousands of students who had various levels of "natural talent". Her goal was to create a pedagogical system of instruction for the guitar that would be similar to the various systems used to teach children to read and write. A pedagogical system is something that takes the "natural talent" of the teacher and the student out of the equation as much as possible by providing an optimal order for the introduction of material, and by breaking the material down into chunks small enough to be understood, absorbed, and used by the student in a practical way. So in addition to the ordering and arrangement of materials, a pedagogical method contains exercises or drills to ensure that the student has mastered one concept before moving on to the next.

If you’re interested in the Principles method, follow this link to Jamie’s Web site. http://www.guitarprinciples.com Jamie's site has a lot of free articles, some book reviews, discussion forums, and even a free newsletter. If you're considering lessons with me, feel free to check my references by contacting Jamie, Steve, or Geraldine. I strongly recommend that you at least read Jamie's free articles and sign up for her free newsletter. Each newsletter contains an essay and other useful information. Besides "The Principles", Jamie's written several other books and on-line courses. Not all are equally useful for all playing styles. Her rock and blues course, for example, is targeted at electric players while her classical course is for acoustic guitarists. I highly recommend Jamie's instructional DVD, which has just gone into a second edition. If nothing else, at least browse through the free articles and check out the forums and the newsletter.

My Curriculum

My goal as a teacher is to get you playing real music as quickly as possible, without sacrificing playing technique or creating bad habits that later become barriers to development.There are specific skills you need in order to play basic material in your chosen style. Everyone eventually learns all the different kinds of chords and scales. Both paths lead to the top of the mountain. A curriculum is just a list of things you need to learn, and a rough order in which to learn them. It’s to avoid fatal gaps in learning and technique and to ensure you master the basic skills required by all players. You still learn at your own pace, and you still help pick the songs you study. Yet you also get the technique, theory, and basic skills that will allow you to play or jam in a variety of styles and learn new songs quickly.

It’s possible to “wing it” and “customize” a unique program of study for everyone, but I don’t approve. It’s too easy for vital skills to fall through the cracks especially if you have to leave town or change teachers. The result would be unbalanced development and serious gaps in your skill set. Left too long, that would limit you to a very narrow style of playing which in turn would limit your playing opportunities. It’s also a recipe for stage fright.

My Guarantee

For my private guitar students, I offer a limited money-back guarantee. The details are here.

Music Theory Lessons

I offer private instruction in reading music notation, basic harmony, and other types of music theory.

My Policies

I have a scheduling and cancellation policy, a set of studio rules, and a set of ground rules for mobile lessons. You can click on the links to the left to see my fees and my various policies. I also have a brief list of things that all beginning guitarists need.