Call (925) 695-7060

Call (925) 695-7060

Half Priced Guitar Lessons – Fairfield & Martinez CA

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Give the Gift of Art – Guitar Lessons

I’ve been teaching guitar lessons privately in Bay Area for many years. I started teaching guitar lessons in Fairfield, CA and performing at Travis Air Force base and then taught in Martinez. As my business grew, I found myself working with students all over the East Bay.

My business has now evolved into a mobile service of bringing private guitar instruction to your home on your schedule – as long as my guitar lesson schedule is open!

This morning at 6:30 a.m. I receive a text message from Susan in Martinez asking if I have offer a gift package. She wants to give her husband private guitar lessons for his birthday.

I have unbelievable prices for guitar lessons! I offer introductory guitar lesson packages for all ages and all levels of guitar, bass and banjo. You receive 4 half-hour private guitar lessons for $150  intro package taught by a pro, not a student . Happy guitar jamming to you.

Guitar & Banjo Lessons
Fairfield & Concord CA
(925) 695-7060

Free Guitar Lesson – Richmond CA

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Former Guitar Student in Richmond Reconnects to Take it to the Next Level

Richmond CA guitar lessonsLast week I gave a one hour free introductory guitar lesson to Brian in Richmond near Hill Top Mall. My car is wrapped with info advertising “guitar lessons.“.  When I parked in front of the student’s house, a neighbor ask for my card for guitar lessons for her husband. He has had a guitar for several years and gave up trying to learn on the Internet. I said that’s what I do – Help build guitar students’ confidence.

So, my Richmond guitar student, Brian had taken lessons from me from 1987 to 2003, 16 years.  Then he took a break to work on private vocal lessons and now, 8 years later. we hooked back up. 

I was playing a Godin Synth guitar with nylon strings through a Roland Jazz Chorus amp and Brian had a Ibanez semi hollow jazz guitar a la  Larry Carlton’s Gibson 335. We went over “After Hours” by jazz guitarist Ronnie Jordan on YouTube.

Within 15 minutes Brian could play both the melody and chords watching me. Brian was encouraged because had not picked up guitar in 10 years. Then we went t over songs he could sing like “ Just The Two Of Us” and “Morning” by Al Jareau. Brian has an incredible voice.

Brian  emailed me next morning saying how much he was inspired and looking forward to joining my (RGS Guitar Ensemble) and wants to work on singing and playing guitar at same time. I let Brian know how fun it is for me to work with a student that has amazing talent and just needs a pro to take him to the next level.

Brian’s goal is to start doing solo gigs where he can sing and play or just play solo or do guitar duets with me. It’s always great as a guitar or bass student to set short term goals of picking the correct repertoire that you can have fun with jamming, but at same time forces you to take your bass and or guitar chops to the next level.

Guitar & Banjo Lessons
Richmond CA & East Bay Area
(925) 695-7060

Alamo Danville CA Guitar Lessons

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It’s Never Too Late to Study Guitar from a Pro

Today I gave a one hour introductory guitar lesson to a student in Danville CA who is 66 years young and has been playing for many years. We played 6 string acoustic guitars with bronze strings and the student loves fast pace fiddle songs such as “Wildwood Flower”.  

He has the melody down but is having difficulty playing chords. So, I assigned him the “naming notes” exercise on all strings starting with low E string open, F1(F on 1st fret),G3,A5,B7,C8,D10 AND E12 which is one octave higher. He then moved on to the other strings (A, D, G, B, High-E). I then gave him a left hand finger stretch on all 6 strings and a chord exercise with roots based on string 6, 5 or top 4 strings. A-major, A-major-9, A-minor, A-minor-9 and A-minor-7.

Guitar Instructor DanvilleI pointed out that rhythm guitar is much more difficult because you are constantly varying which strings you are playing to create the chord you want (3, 4, 5 or all 6 strings) and changing the number of chords per measure and the rhythm.

To get the most out of his lessons, I recommend bi-monthly 1-hour guitar lessons at his home in Danville instead of weekly half-hour lessons so he can get into a learning-groove which will help assimilate the material more quickly.

After two weeks we will work on rhythm using a metronome and lead patterns for soloing, as well as putting the melody on string 1 or 2 and playing chords and melody at same time. My student was very excited and looking forward to his next lesson. His confidence will build as he jams with his professional guitar teacher and after 6 months, he will start to see an increase in his speed (tempo) playing chords and soloing.

Guitar & Banjo Lessons
Alamo – Danville – East Bay Area
(925) 695-7060

Danville & San Ramon CA – Guitar Lessons at Home

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Mobile Guitar Lessons in Danville & San Ramon California

Everything is going mobile these days thanks to smart phones & iPads. I think I was ahead of the curve with my mobile guitar lessons – meaning I will come to your house in Danville or San Ramon (or anywhere else in the East Bay) and give private guitar lessons. Or if you have a friend or brother or sister that also wants lessons, we could do a small group guitar lesson.

I teach  guitar, bass, uke, mandolin and 4 & 5 string banjo lessons – beginners to advanced. I have developed my own teaching style that makes it easy to learn to play guitar or any of the other instruments I teach. There is very little risk for my guitar students – I offer the first lesson FREE and also offer the first month of guitar lessons at half price. This allows my guitar students in San Ramon and Danville to see if my method is right for them and whether or not we are going to “click” as student and teacher.Another  big plus for my guitar students’ parents in Danville & San Ramon CA is that my lessons are month-to-month – no contracts.

San Ramon Danville Guitar instructorI am probably one of the most experienced guitar teachers in the East Bay. I have developed a unique teaching system. I have toured with many well known entertainers. I have studied at some of the most prestigious music schools and with some of the finest guitar players in the world (all styles). Over time, my guitar lessons will cover all the bases to help my students grow from a casual guitar player to a professional guitar player that will have an extensive understanding of music and what is involved in a professional music career.

My website is updated frequently with all kinds of tips on guitar playing, music theory, how to build guitar confidence on strum patterns and how to use modes, scales and chords.

There’s really nothing to lose – except the opportunity to become an awesome guitar player or professional musician. Call me now to book that first guitar lesson FREE of charge.

Guitar Lessons
Danville – San Ramon – East Bay Area
(925) 695-7060

Below is my version of Shakedown, a classic jazz fusion song by Spyro Gyra. All solos are transcribed from the original recording. I had a hard time transcribing the original recording organ solo but I did and Christopher Milne did a great job. My rock ensemble students did a great job in helping to pull this one off. I love the sax and guitar leads in thirds and I’m playing the guitar solo which took some practice.

 

San Ramon CA Bass Guitar Lessons

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San Ramon CA Bass Guitar Lessons

Keeping the Bass Guitar Beat in San Ramon

I was giving a guitar lesson to one of my bass guitar students from San Ramon who has been reading Hal Leonard’s Bass Method Book I.  He had not been practicing his reading assignments regularly for two months because he was rehearsing a 35 song playlist for a paying gig and only had so much time for practicing.

So today, we were back to the work on reading music for bass guitar.  Bass guitar uses the bass clef as compared with regular guitar that uses the treble clef. We started where we left off two months ago on techniques taught to music majors at the college level where you practice sight reading daily.

Before you play a new exercise for the first time, make sure you speak it out loud without out picking up the guitar and say each note from left to right. You should say the name of the note and the fret location. For example, on a 4 string bass if the note was string 4 fret 1 you would simply say F1. This programs your built in computer that God gave you known as your brain to remember the note locations on the fretboard.

THEN SLOWLY AT ABOUT 75 B.P.M. on the metronome tap your right foot, if your right handed, or left foot if left handed and count out loud 1,2,3, and 4 and try to play the exercise without stopping. Try not to keep looking at your fret board and hand but keep your eyes on the music so you don’t get lost. If you are still not making it through the exercise without making lots of mistakes, try naming each note out loud as you play instead of counting each beat and just say the name of the note and not the fret location. More to come.

To get started with learning to read sheet music for guitar, I highly recommend Hal Leonard Method Books.

Guitar Lessons – Chord Progressions

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San Ramon CA Chord Progressions – Guitar Lesson

I was giving a guitar lesson to a student in San Ramon who wanted to know about chord progressions.

When learning a new song, it’s best to first analyze the chords of song known as the chord progression. This will help with your memorization skills to learn and remember the song much quicker. You will also start to recognize typical chord progression patterns in songs that are similar to other songs you have already learned, which will make it easier to assimilate the information. 

For instance, a common progression like the one used in La Bamba in the key of C would start with the C chord followed by F and G. 

Chord progressions are typically notated with Roman numerals such as I, IV, V.  In this progression, C would be the I (1), F would be the IV (4) and G would be the V (5). You would call this song a I, IV, V progression. The reason to use this system is because you can quickly transpose the song to any key.  

Let’s say you want to play the song and the key of C is a little out of your vocal range.  You can then easily transpose the progression to let’s say the key of G.  G would now be the I chord, C would now be the IV chord and D would now be the V chord. 

If you know scales, you are simply taking the starting note of the scale as your I Chord, the fourth note of the scale as your IV chord and the V note of the scale as your V chord.  Taking our example above, the G major scale is G, A, B, C, D, E, F#.  So as you can see, G is in the 1st position, C is in the fourth position and D is in the fifth position.  More to come.

Crow Canyon Country Club Gig a BIG Hit

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Still Rock’N Played to a Sold Out Crowd in Danville CA

Last Friday’s gig at Crow Canyon Country Club in Danville was not only a success, it was a blast. Playing with Still Rock’N –  Craig Harper, Dennis Viers, Joe Iovino and Orestes Vilato was more fun than you could shake an axe at.

The venue was Crow Canyon Country Club’s main ballroom where we had Mt. Diablo as a backdrop while we performed to a sold out dinner club of over 300. Craig’s brother, John, is putting some videos together for us…

 

Crown Canyon Country Club Gig Tonight

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Still Rock’N & Friends
Performing Tonight @ Crow Canyon Country Club

Over the last couple of months, I have been having a blast playing with some friends in the area that go by the name – Still Rock’N. These are a group of individual musicians that have been playing their instruments for 30 or 40 years. A few years ago, they connected through their day jobs in the real estate industry and decided to form a band. Since they’re getting a little long in the tooth on the outside, but are still carrying the flame on the inside, they decided to tell it like it is – they’re Still Rock’N!

Craig Harper is a Realtor in San Ramon & Danville, Dennis Viers is a mortgage loan officer, Together with myself, Joe Iavino and special guest – Orestes Vilato, we’ll be performing at Crow Canyon Country Club tonight to a sold out crowd.

Craig, Dennis, Joe and some of their friends have been taking lessons from me over the last few months. It’s great when people who love playing music tell you – “I’ve learned more from you in the last two months than in the last 30 years.” It’s just as great to be able to play and have blast with such good friends.

If you would like info on future gigs – email me.

Here’s a short video that Craig’s brother, John, put together for me. John does the Internet Marketing for the real estate team. This is an original composition of mine that I created with the men and women of our armed forces in mind.

 

 

 

http://www.theharperteam.com/blog/danville-2/still-rockn-sells-out-crow-canyon-country-club/

This Song is for YOU

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music composition jazz express guitar

Original Music Composition by Rex Bell – Recorded with Jazz Express

All professional musicians know that you must keep the band gigging to keep them together. This is true in all genres: reggae, cover band doing heavy metal, funk, rhythm and blues, Latin salsa, jazz fusion, etc.

A few years ago, I played at JB’s Café in Concord, CA. We needed a contemporary & traditional jazz music for a French restaurant. So I put together local studio musicians (Jazz Express – Rex Bell, guitar, Jeremy Cohen, bass, Eric Thompson, drums, and Greg Rahn, keyboards) who showed up to gig and read music charts from the most common professional book used by all gigging musicians known as “ The Fake Book.”  They have fake books for all C instruments like guitar and piano, all Bb instruments like Trumpet or Tenor sax and Eb  book for Alto Sax or Baritone Sax.

As the band leader, I would call out a tune like Chick Corea or Miles Davis and the musicians would sight read the music as we took turns soloing. BMI & ASCAP are the two companies that monitor all music sales for all music sold anywhere on the planet. Both BMI and ASCAP have teams that will walk into bars, restaurants, coffee shops and other venues unannounced and measure square footage of the establishment and then charge the owner a monthly royalty fee for all copyrighted music being played whether you have a live band, a disc jockey, a juke box or even a CD player.

We had this steady Friday night gig exploring our talents, getting paid and getting a free French meal of our choice. As the old adage goes – all good things must end. The restaurant owner, one day said here’s your last check because a crew from BMI told him unless my music group played only our original music, we would have to pay monthly copyright fees.

So, to keep our gig, I told each musician to compose 7 songs, “This Song Is For You” is one of the 28 original compositions our group composed.

Always take advantage of learning music theory from a professional and learn to reading music because it allows you to go much further with your musical career and ambitions.

Making Time for Guitar Practice

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guitar practice

How to make time to practice guitar

I’ve been  playing guitar as a professional musician as well as teaching for many years. During my professional career, I have observed some areas where students tend to get discouraged.

A good discipline to develop is to  have a set time for and organized list of things you should work on.

As a student of guitar, you have work, school and family and friends as well as financial responsibilities – and – your guitar . I recommend picking 30 to 60 minutes daily 5 to 7 days a week.  I hear from many of my students that a good time for guitar practice is either before or after dinner.

Establish as private an area as possible for your guitar practice to help you  focus on your practice time. If this is still hard to implement on a daily basis and you are feeling guilty and discouraged because you are not making the time to practice, purchase  a  music stand and  leave the  music you need to practice open so that every time you walk by the music stand, it’s a reminder. As a professional guitar instructor teaching beginners to advance in Florida, New Jersey, New York, Boston,Los Angeles and now the San Francisco Bay Area, trust me when I say –  it works.

Be sure you have a worksheet printed out and on your music stand that addresses music reading, scales for soloing, strumming patterns and repertoire using both picking and songs using finger picking. Remember, when you are jamming with friends or performing a professional gig, have fun and don’t worry about technique. But, when you practice, you should focus on technique as well as using a metronome on everything you practice. This is what musicianship is all about.

Professional Guitar Lessons
San Francisco Bay Area
(925) 695-7060

Learn to Play Guitar in the Privacy of Your Own Home

Our guitar instructors come to you to give you personal one-on-one lessons in the privacy of your own home. We cover Dublin, San Ramon, Pleasanton, Livermore and all cities in east and south bay

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Guitar Confidence
4101 Dublin Blvd
Suite F, #537
Dublin, CA 94568

(925) 695-7060

guitarconfidence@gmail.com

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