Dale's Teaching Method

I teach guitar lessons centered around finger style acoustic guitar or pick style rock, blues and jazz

Electric bass guitar lessons are centered around the rock and funk styles using the pick, fingers, or slap and pop method

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Lessons for children ages 6 to 8 years old:

For my younger students I start off with the basics. For example, the names of the parts of the guitar, how to hold the guitar, how to play notes and make them sound good, how to play basic chords.

Then, it is time to find out what interests them. I will bring in drums to teach them rhythms. We will then learn the notes of the staff and how to read rhythms. Finally, we will put the notes and rhythms together and they will start to read music and play songs. If there is a song they like, we can learn that song. It is a great way for them to start training their ears so that they can learn to play what they hear and what is fun for them.

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I will also encourage my young student to start coming up with music of their own. Whether this means improvising a solo, writing a verse, or even an entire song, it is up to them. At this young age, the future is boundless and I am there to help them along.

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Lessons for people ages 8 and up:

If you are a beginner I will start with the basics; like chords, scales, how to read notation and tablature, basic song forms and structure. I'll also show you some basic guitar and/or bass maintenance, like how to tune your instrument and how to change the strings.

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As you progress, or if you have already been playing a while, we can get into ear training, music theory as well as song writing and song analysis. All students will learn how to apply what is being taught to the music they are most interested in. The bottom line is that we can go where ever your musical interests want to take us.

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I use whatever teaching material best suits you; from online materials and videos to standard guitar or bass guitar instruction books. For most students I will use a combination of materials. I also tend to write much of my own lesson materials. Every student is different, and, as a result, everyone's individual lesson will be different. I want you to learn something new every lesson, and I would be thrilled if you left every lesson having learned something new and wanting nothing more than to go home and play.

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If you are interested and are taking lessons at my home studio, I can record the lessons. I also have an electronic drum set, and various amps and microphones that we can use.

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Ready to give it a try?

Remember, there is no cost for the first lesson. I use this time to get to know you and your goals. I also want you to be sure you are comfortable with me. The goal is to make a good team. During this first lesson we can discuss what you are interested in learning and with what materials we should begin to use. If you are interested I can also do some playing for you at this time or we can jam a little if you are comfortable with that.

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So, send me an e-mail if you have any questions or to set up your no cost first lesson.

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My e-mail address is dbmusicandwords@gmail.com.