No matter what the subject or who the student, I always begin by listening. Tell me who you like to listen to. . .  Play me a recording of what you think is great.  What's on your iPod?  As a musician who do you most want to sound like?  What draws you to them?

Through a graduated set of custom-tailored exercises we can then discover what *you* sound like.
I prefer a three-fold approach:

1. Be ready to sing. Singing is an essential part of discovering *your inner voice*. You won't do it on stage, in front of anybody but me, and there's no shame in having a lousy voice. My own voice is pretty awful as even my own father would attest. But I can really hit the notes, and thats what its all about. If you can't hear "your voice" in your head first- you can't make it come out your instrument.

2. Be ready to drill. Like a Marine in boot camp. Mercilessly, shamelessly. You will go the woodshed and get your chops together, in all twelve keys. You really want to learn to play your instrument? This is where we apply the essential grammar -the Music Theory- to your instrument, thus enabling you to speak in coherent musical sentences.

Chords. Scales. Patterns. All twelve keys. Until you know them so well in your ears and fingers that your mind can weave them together spontaneously, creating a fluent language of your own. I will be your patient guide, your cheerleader, your drill sergeant. It is a necessary and required step.

3. Transcription, Analysis and Composition. Music Theory is the "how and why" of the way chords move. It doesn't matter the genre- Classical, Rap, Jazz, Pop. The fundamental rules of Holy Harmonic Motion are just like the laws of physics- immutable and unchanging throughout the musical universe. We start by analyzing simple harmonic movement and gradually move to more complex examples. Along the way, I encourage you to create your own.

Transcribing: pick a favorite solo and learn to play it. Don't write it down, just play it. Someday you can write it down, but the goal is to be able to play it along with the recording, so tightly- following every note, every nuance, every feeling. When its in your soul, playing it with the recording should sound like one unit. Its a slow process at first and we take it one phrase at a time. Favorite parts of the solo are used to make patterns for practice in all twelve keys (see #2 above). This is how we birth your own private language.

The above is just a set of suggestions based on what has worked for me in the past.
I believe in remaining flexible, adaptable- open to change and suggestions. I care deeply about what you think, and would be honored to be your teacher.
Email me or call (330) 687-6789 for a free consultation.