Don Parkhurst Jr

If you're looking to learn Classic Rock/Hard Rock/Metal Guitar then you have found the right teacher! I started playing 40 years ago learned to play guitar by working out songs by bands ranging from Aerosmith to Hendrix then onwards to Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden to Metallica, Megadeth, Testament and so on. I was even lucky enough to study with Alex Skolnick(Testament, Savatage, Trans Siberian Orchestra) for a year. That was an awesome experience! 

Later I decided I wanted to get into teaching and while I already had alot of knowledge through all the private lessons I took through the years I decided to get some formal education. I attended Hartford Conservatory of Music, took classes at Atlanta Institute of Music and studies music theory at a local community college. I began my teaching career at a local music school and moved on to open up my own Guitar School. Now I'm expanding my business online so I can help more students reach their goals. I love teaching and I'll do whatever it takes to help students reach whatever level of playing ability they strive towards. It doesn't matter to me if it's just strumming chords or getting into more complex theoretical concepts. I'm here to help no matter what level you're at! 

My approach is to begin by teaching you through actual musical examples. If you are a complete beginner I first start by teaching you cool rock riffs that you'll have a blast learning. We'll also work on the songs you want to learn, by simplifying them to whatever level you're at currently. This way you'll be playing along with the full songs quickly as opposed to working on the same song for months and months while getting frustrated because the skill level is simply beyond you.  Later, when your skill level has increased, we can revisit any of these songs and learn the note for note versions! 

You'll be playing these songs along with full band backing tracks. This will include bass, drums and many times vocals. YOU will then be the guitar player in the band! I also create different tempo recordings so you'll be able to play along with the tracks from the beginning, even before you have mastered the song! 

Now we don't just learn songs though. I'll teach you how to break up beats, how chords and scales work together, rhythm guitar techniques, lead guitar techniques etc...

I'm a strong believer that it's extremely important to get you playing actual music as soon as you are physically capable of doing so. THAN we can start looking at the "how's" and "why's" these songs sound so good so you can begin to create some of your own if you choose.

While music theory and technical exercises are very important, always remember that you're learning all of this to play actual music! Do you want to get great at playing exercises or great at playing actual music?

So grab your axe and let's get jammin!!!