For beginners of any age
Beginner lessons for kids, teens, and adults, in San Jose or online. One-on-one, or bring a friend and split the cost.
We start with a song the student wants to play. Chords, rhythm, and theory come in as the song needs them.
Young kids get short activities: clapping a rhythm, finding a sound, playing a two-note pattern. We'll figure out the right guitar size and lesson length together.
We work from the songs they listen to: simplify a part, learn the riff, and work on whatever technique makes it sound like the recording.
Never played, or played years ago and quit? Either is fine. Tell me what you want to play and how much time you have to practice, and we'll plan around that.
Some students show up with a song in mind. Some just want to know what the guitar can do. Either one is a place to start.
First lessons are the basics: holding the guitar so it doesn't hurt, getting a clean note, keeping a beat, and playing something short that sounds like music. Chords, strumming, picking, and reading tabs get added as the songs get harder.
Theory gets explained through what they're playing. Why does this chord change sound like the end of the song? That's a theory lesson, and the student just heard it.
Almost every beginner hits this: both chords sound fine on their own, and the strumming stops dead every time they switch.
So we pull the change out of the song. Fingers only, slowly, no strumming. Then strumming only, no chord change. Then the two together for four beats, before going back to the song.
Now the student has one small thing to practice, and they can hear it getting better.
Practice between lessons should be small and specific: one chord change, one rhythm, eight bars of a song.
Weekly lessons work best. Every other week tends to lose momentum unless the student is practicing a lot on their own.
One-on-one lessons follow one student's pace. Small groups play together, and keeping time with other people is its own skill.
Siblings or friends at a similar level can take lessons together.
Lessons are in person in San Jose or online. Length, location, rate, and the instrument question all get settled in the free consultation.
I'm building a guitar learning site and practice dashboard for my students. Parts of it work now, and parts are still being built.
No. Tell me what you have, or that you're still looking, and we'll sort out an instrument together. The student will need one to practice on between lessons.
Either. Tell me which one the student has or wants, and we'll start there.
Yes. If the song is too hard for now, we learn a simpler part of it, or a different song that builds toward it.
Yes. Lessons for young kids are shorter and more playful, and we'll talk in the consultation about whether your child is ready.
Yes. A session can be part tutoring and part guitar. We'll agree on how to split the time before we start.
Who's learning, whether they've played before, and what music they're into. We'll figure out where to start in a free consultation.
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