About
Guitar/Bass player and Rutgers graduate with over 15 years teaching experience currently living in Asbury Park NJ. I play in a band called Dentist that is signed to LA record label Cleopatra records and has toured the country numerous times. At this point I've been a part of many different projects playing guitar or bass including original and cover bands. I have experience teaching students of all ages and I'm comfortable working with the very young to the not so young. Although I started out as a bass player, I've come to teach and play both instruments equally. My passion for songwriting and arrangement has lead me to be the type of player more worried about finding the perfect part for a song, as opposed to displaying chops, and I strive to teach my students to play like that as well. However, I am well versed in technique and can definitely help with your chops too! I currently teach private lessons for bass and guitar, group classes, songwriting, and I also teach a general music class at a charter school in Asbury Park NJ. I love music and enjoy nothing more than discovering a new album and falling in love with it. My other interests include reading, writing, and running.
I've been teaching bass and guitar lessons since the early 2000's when my teacher at the time recommended me to take over his position at a local music store in Point Pleasant NJ. I studied privately and at college and have been developing my teaching style for a while now. Since then, I've taught at multiple studios in New Jersey, ran group ensemble classes, taught songwriting camps, developed my online lessons, and helped many of my students get accepted to music colleges. If you take lessons with me, you will become well versed in music theory, reading music, improvising, technique, and writing. I'm a laid back person with a lot of patience and that comes through in my teaching style. I'm also encouraging and helpful, but honest in my critiques in order to help the student become the best that they can be. Any criticism given will be done alongside advice on how to improve and a positive attitude. I believe that every student has the potential to become a great musician, and I want to help students reach that goal.
One of the most effective approaches when teaching guitar or bass is beginning by getting the student familiar with their instrument and some basic theory. After that, I find it effective to quickly incorporate teaching songs that the student wants to learn and also ones that I recommend. I try to use learning songs as a means to get more skillful, but also as a way to teach rhythms, scales, technique, and music theory. For example, if a student is learning a song that makes use of a scale that they have learned, I want to make sure they're noticing the scale in use, and understanding how they can apply this knowledge in different musical situations. Students will also learn how to read and write music and to improvise in any musical setting including Jazz. I also teach songwriting and lyric writing in most musical styles. Ultimately, my lessons are tailored to individual students with an emphasis on helping them reach their goals.