About
Matt Brown, renowned performer and guitar instructor, has been teaching and playing professionally for the last 18 years.
Matt earned a Bachelor's of Music in Classical Guitar Performance from Capital University in Columbus, OH.
He currently teaches private guitar and bass lessons, sings and plays guitar in the Chicago rock band Dead Parade, and transcribes music professionally for a wide variety of clients. In the past, he worked for 8 years as a guitar teacher, transcriber, consultant, and free-lance writer for a popular subscription guitar site. He also served as a guitar instructor/lecturer at Capital University's Community Music School under the direction of music educator Dr. Rebecca Johnson. Over the duration of his teaching career, Matt has taught over 1,000 students of all ages and levels of experience. Recently, he was published in Guitar World magazine.
Matt has a developed a reputation of being a musical jack of all trades. He is proficient in teaching and performing any style of guitar or bass. However, he is best known for his rock guitar playing, his songwriting abilities, his classical guitar performance skills, and his ability to teach these skill sets effectively.
I tailor each lesson to help each student reach his/her own unique goals. I teach all genres, but I tend to focus on fundamental musicianship skills. That way, each student develops a solid foundation that can be applied to any musical situation. Right from the start, the primary goal of lessons is to play music. I structure my curriculum as such; lesson plans are customized for each student so that he/she is able to reach his/her goals in the most fun and efficient manner possible. I prefer not to bombard students with boring drills or technical exercises. Instead, technical practice and other subjects that are often boring for students are taught within a practical musical context such as a song or piece. That way, essential skills and knowledge such as solid technique and music theory are learned in a fun and inspiring way.
Lesson materials are customized based on each student's individua lgoals. I use a combination of tried and true books along with materials that I have created over the past 16 years. Here is a quick list of some of the books I use:
General Guitar Skills
Progressive Guitar Method - Gary Turner
A Modern Method for Guitar - William Leavitt
Melodic Rhythms for Guitar - William Leavitt
Jazz Guitar
Jazz Harmony on the Guitar - Stan Smith
Approaching the Guitar - Gene Bertoncini
Jazz Conception for Guitar - Jim Snidero
Classical Guitar
Pumping Nylon - Scott Tennant
100 Graded Classical Guitar Studies - Frederick Noad
The Solo Lute Works of J.S. Bach - edited by Frank Koonce