Frequently Asked Questions

Lesson policies and information: Online and In-Person.

Do you offer lessons outside of your studios in Niagara Falls or Youngstown?

Yes. In addition to teaching at the Guitar Woodshed in Niagara Falls, NY, and my private studio in Youngstown, I also teach online lessons to students from all over the United States on Zoom and Skype. I also can travel to you for lessons. Extra charges apply for travel. Please drop me a line to inquire about online or lessons at your place/office.

What are your rates and lesson policies?

Teaching has been my lifelong passion, and I am incredibly grateful to be able to teach and share my love of music with you. With that said, my time is valuable. I charge $30 per half-hour lesson and $55 per hour lesson. Lessons cancelled less than 24 hours in advance will have their payment forfeited. In the case that you have to cancel a lesson outside of the 24 hour window, I will do everything I can, within reason, to find a makeup time that week that will work for both of our schedules. In the event that you can not make it that week at an alternate time, We can work together to do a double lesson the following week. If neither of these options work and you are cancelling outside of the 24 hour period, we can talk about an option that will work, either credit for the following month or entrance to a monthly hour-long special interest group master class.

You can take your first two lessons by paying for them individually at the time of the lesson. If you choose to continue with me after that, I request monthly pre-payment for your lessons. This guarantees your spot, and allows me to commit to your learning experience. You can pay for lessons using the portal on this web page, or I can invoice you through PayPal or Venmo.

I do not have a guitar yet. Can you help me pick out an instrument that I can learn on?

Finding an easy to play and affordable instrument to learn on can be a challenge. I can help you in choosing an instrument and help you better understand what to look for when finding a guitar for your lessons.

What makes you qualified to teach?

I began playing guitar in 1984, after having played the keyboard for a handful of years. I have studied with some of the world’s best players. I hold a bachelors degree in Jazz Guitar Performance, a Master of Fine Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Art (guitar performance, pedagogy, music production, etc.). In addition, I taught at the National Guitar Workshop for over a decade and studied many of the worlds greatest players during that time. I also taught at a few different colleges, ran some programs for local high school music programs, toured the country as performer, have my productions/compositions played on the global stage regularly, and have brought new levels of guitar knowledge to thousands of players from all over the planet since 1989.

What styles do you teach? Do I have to learn how to read music?

I have taught and performed professionally on an international level the following styles of guitar:

Rock, Blues, Jazz, Classical, Funk, Rhythm and Blues, Swing, Country, Bluegrass, Celtic, Metal, Punk, Acoustic, Reggae, Musical Theater, Non-Idiomatic Improvisation, Polka, and many others. I have formal training in these styles and decades of focused practice as a musician.

On the Question of Reading Music: While I believe that fluency in reading does give a huge advantage when it comes to musicianship, reading skills are not always necessary to have fun as a player. Although I consider myself a fluent reader and have formal conservatory training in music, I do not force reading on any of my students, however as one advances, it may be of interest to you to refine your reading abilities. If you decide that you want to brush up on your reading skills, I can help you master reading rhythms, positions, and interpretation. If you want to work on your favorite songs, learn new technique, chords, scales, etc. I am fine with that also!