My approach
Are you looking for new ways to learn more about playing your guitar? If the answer is yes, then I’m here to help.
With 20 years of experience in playing the guitar and studying music, I can guide you in your quest to improve your skills and techniques so that you too can create the sounds and rhythms you’ve been hoping to make.
Our approach to learning music will emphasize practical and accessible exercises that help guide you–no matter your current skill level–to better understand how both music and the guitar “work” – and how you can better experience the joys and fun of making music!
No matter your level, I aim to help you improve your musical skills – in any contemporary style. and this means learning how to improvise. Improvisation, even though it may at times seem daunting, is the key to understanding and learning music. Together, our aim will be to help you play music that feels and sounds authentic! Whether that means trying to learn a song by ear, trying to play specific rhythms, learning a guitar solo, or improvising chords behind another soloist, all of these skills involve taking the sounds and rhythms out of your head and expressing them through your guitar!
Have you ever asked any of these questions?
How do I play a guitar solo?
How can I make my guitar solos better?
How can I practice more efficiently?
How do I create a practice routine at all?
What notes do I play over this chord?
Why do these chords sound good together while others don’t?
Where do chords come from?
Where do scales come from?
How can I make my playing more rhythmically interesting?
How do I play with other people?
How can I play along with my favorite songs?
Why doesn’t my guitar sound like the guitar on this track?
What does “having good ears” mean?
How do I play faster?
What are the names of the notes?
Why do the names of the notes matter?
My teaching approach is practice-based
We will learn exercises and concepts that already exist in the music you want to play
We will together choose tunes and styles that you enjoy and want to learn
We’ll explore the traditions and structures of the music you like
Lessons will be unique to you and tailored to your needs
Lessons are a minimum of one hour, and can be weekly or bi-weekly depending on your needs and schedule.
I certainly have.
If any or all of these questions resonate with you, come join me on a musical journey of curiosity and discovery!
A little about myself
I’m David, a Canadian born, Brooklyn based jazz guitar player. I started playing guitar when I was thirteen, in the heyday of pop punk bands like Green Day and Sum 41. I was very lucky to have a great teacher in Vancouver who introduced me to the music of Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Albert King, Stevie Ray Vaughn, B.B. King… the greats! After a few months of listening to these guitar players and trying to learn what they were doing I asked my teacher, “how do these guys write these guitar solos?” My teacher blew my teenage mind. “They just sort of make them up.”
The simple idea that these solos were “made up” (or improvised, a word I later learned) started a journey that I’m still on now, 23 years later.
In that time, I’ve travelled far and wide, received two music degrees, made many albums, performed in festivals and clubs all over North America and, perhaps most importantly for you, had many teachers of my own. These have ranged from private guitar teachers to university courses; online workshops to grant funded study abroad opportunities. A lot of those teachers have been really excellent, and many of those teachers have been pretty bad. Through my experiences as a student, I think I’ve been able to become a very effective teacher.
I started teaching in 2009 at a small community music school in Vancouver, Canada and since then have taught in many contexts. I have taught private lessons and ensemble lessons at the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra School of Music, been hired as a clinician for the Rocky Mountain Archtop Festival, the Central Coast Jazz Guitar Workshop, The Vancouver International Jazz Festival and many other places. In 2022 I moved to New York City to pursue a master’s degree in guitar performance at NYU. While I was there, I was hired as an adjunct graduate student instructor to teach private guitar lessons. Since graduating I have taught for the NYC Jazz Academy and NYC Guitar School. Now, after many years of teaching for various institutions, I have started teaching out of my own studio in Brooklyn.
As well as teaching, I maintain a career as a jazz guitarist performing and recording in NYC as well as other parts of the world!
Location
My home studio is located in Flatbush, Brooklyn, minutes from the Church Ave Q/B station. I’m easily accessible by bus as well, with the B35 stopping right outside my studio and the B41 stopping less than 5 minutes away.
I have a collection of guitars, amplifiers and effects pedals so you don’t have to bring anything with you!
Rates
Lessons are $80 per hour
I find that meeting once a week, or once every two weeks is the most effective.
I require 24 hours notice for cancellations, but I am quite flexible with resecheduling.
Contact me!
Interested in working together?
Fill out my form with some information about who you are and what you’re trying to do with the guitar!
Or just email me at davideblake@gmail.com