Yes. I teach total beginners, but also teach people who already have guitar playing experience.

Yes. The very first lesson is a free half hour trial lesson. This lets you see if you might enjoy learning guitar and if we're a good fit together as teacher and student.

YES! I believe anybody can learn to play guitar as long as they have the desire to play and put the time in to learn & practice. While some people may have more innate ability than others, anybody can learn if they really want to.

I mainly teach rock, metal, pop & blues, although we'll touch upon a lot of different styles, like jazz, as we learn about music theory.

I teach kids and adults ages 12 & up. Teaching kids younger than middle school age generally requires a different style of teaching than I prefer, due to the way they process information and shorter attention spans.

Yes. In order to reach even a basic level of playing skill, you'll need to play/practice on your own. The only way to do that is if you have access to your own guitar.

No. New students can use one of my guitars during the first lesson. This way, you get to see if guitar lessons are something that will suit you before you go out and spend money on a guitar.

You don't need to spend a lot of money on a guitar. There are lots of new guitars that are perfectly fine to learn on and play that can be bought for a few hundred dollars. You can also find great deals on used guitars.

I can provide guidance to help you choose a guitar as well as amps and accessories if you have questions.

You should play the type of guitar suited to the music you most enjoy. If you mostly want to play hard rock & metal, you'll get bored very quickly learning on an acoustic guitar. Likewise, if you're mostly into acoustic fingerpicking music, you won't be satisfied with an electric guitar.

Many guitar teachers have opinions as to why it's better to start learning on an acoustic vs electric, or vice versa. I believe you will learn guitar faster and better the more you play. Period. You will be more motivated to play & practice often if you're playing the type of guitar that fits the style of music you like the best.

That said, an electric guitar is easier to play, physically speaking. This is due to the the much lighter string gauges used on electric guitars. You need much less effort to press down the strings on an electric guitar than an acoustic guitar. Electric guitars are also easier to hold, as they have smaller bodies.

Learning to play guitar is a mental and physical process. You need to learn theoretical things like the notes that make up scales and chords. You also need to physically train your hands to develop muscle memory in order to transition between different chord shapes and play scales smoothly.

If the physical part of learning is too difficult for a new student, they progress very slowly. This often leads to discouragement and giving up.

If you enjoy all kinds of guitar music, I recommend starting off with an electric guitar since it will be easier to play.

If you only want to play acoustic guitar, I recommend getting the absolute lightest strings for the instrument in the beginning... even stringing it with electric guitar strings. The sound may be a bit thin, but you can move up to normal acoustic gauge strings once you’ve become comfortable playing and switching between the basic chord shapes.

Yes! You can certainly learn to play both acoustic and electric guitar if you like.

You'll need a guitar, a guitar tuner (or smartphone tuner app - there are lots of free ones), and guitar picks.

If you're playing electric guitar, you'll also need an amplifier, and a cable to connect the guitar to the amp.

A metronome (or metronome smartphone app) is also recommended.

There's really no set time frame on how long it takes. It really depends on how much you practice and the quality of your practice - focusing on practicing the right things. The more you practice, the faster you'll get good. It also depends on your definition of "good". If you only want to be able to strum some basic chords in time, you can get "good" pretty quickly. If you define "good" as being a virtuoso who can play anything, it takes many years and you'll always be challenging yourself to learn more and get better.

As much as you can - hopefully every day. You may only have 15 minutes a day to play guitar, or maybe you have hours. Either way, the important thing is to keep at it consistently. You'll make more progress playing a little bit every day than you will practicing for an hour one day every now and then. Learning any musical instrument is a commitment that requires consistent practice. If you don't practice regularly, you won't ever become a decent player.

YES! You'll learn how all western music is composed of just 12 notes (that's right!) that can be arranged to make up all the songs you've ever heard. By learning music theory - timing, scales, chords, intervals, harmony - you'll be able to play songs, improvise, and even write your own songs.

I can teach you how to read standard music notation. However, it won’t be part of your lessons unless you specifically wish to learn it.

It's not really necessary to learn sight reading of music if you want to be a great guitar player and have fun. I'll teach you music theory - chords, scales, timing, keys, etc...so you'll be able to figure out songs or play with other musicians without having to read music. Sight reading music notation for the guitar is very difficult compared to other musical instruments, such as piano. This is due to the fact that the same exact note can physically be played on multiple areas of the guitar’s fretboard, meaning you don’t just have to know what note you’re reading, but also figure out where you should play it.

There are plenty of famous, respected guitarists, and musicians in general, who can’t read music (Eddie Van Halen, Billy Joel and Paul McCartney, to name a few). As long as you have a strong understanding of music theory, you can play and even compose your own songs without reading a note of sheet music. Unless you plan on going to school for a music degree or playing on Broadway, becoming a session musician, etc...you won't need to read music.

Yes. Learning guitar is much more fun if you're learning songs you like. We'll work songs you enjoy into lessons while also learning the theory behind how the songs are put together.

Lessons are once a week in order to keep consistent progress. We'll set up a day and time that is your weekly time slot. For people that are busy and can't come every week or at the same day/time, I can work with you to set up lessons at your convenience.

I offer lessons Monday - Thursday from 11am - 9pm, and Fridays from 11am - 6pm.

You have a choice of 1/2 hour or hour long lessons.

$50 for a 1/2 hour lesson and $70 for an hour lesson. Payment is monthly, due during the first lesson of each month. Payment for online lessons is due 1 day prior to the 1st scheduled monthly lesson via Zelle.  

Cash, Check or Zelle.

If you need to cancel a scheduled lesson, please notify me by 6pm the night before your scheduled lesson. I will do my best to reschedule the missed lesson, if possible. Make up lesson schedules are dependent on my availability. Make up lessons must be used within 30 calendar days of the originally scheduled lesson.

Refunds are not given for cancelled lessons.

Payment is owed for cancelled lessons (if payment hasn’t already been made).

Lack of practice between lessons is not a reason for cancellation.

Lessons cancelled on short notice (after 6pm the night before a scheduled lesson) cannot be rescheduled and no refund will be given. Make-up lessons will be scheduled for illness or genuine emergencies.

Excessive cancellations may result in the loss of a student’s reserved time slot.

Vacations - For vacations or other planned extended absences, please notify me before paying for the month the absence is due to fall in so we can adjust your lesson schedule in advance.

In the rare case I need to cancel a scheduled lesson, a make-up lesson can be scheduled or payment for the lesson will be credited for the following month’s lessons.

I give guitar lessons in my home in North Edison, NJ off Featherbed Lane near Inman Avenue. It's few streets away from Oak Ridge Park in Clark. My home is only minutes away from Clark, Colonia, Cranford, Fanwood, Garwood, Iselin, Metuchen, Scotch Plains, South Plainfield & Westfield.

I only teach guitar at my home. This is for a few reasons: I can teach more students each day without having to factor in travel time to different locations. By teaching in one spot, I also have access to all my equipment and teaching materials. Most importantly, I've found that guitar students are generally more motivated to learn and more focused if they have to make the effort to come to a location for their lessons and are free from distractions they'd have at home.

I do offer online lessons via Zoom for students who wish to learn at home.

Yes. Online lessons are done via Zoom.

Payment for online lessons are due 1 day prior to the 1st scheduled monthly lesson via Zelle.