Finding Josh was like winning the guitar teacher lottery. Luckily for you, I'm willing to share the bounty.
What you want in a music teacher is a fancy mix of teaching experience, musical aptitude + taste, and personality. All are terrifically important, but it's unusual to get them at high levels in the same person.
With this instructor, you can expect:
1. Fluency in every major era and style of American popular guitar music.
2. Excellent taste, but won't judge *your* song or artist choices. You wanna play some shitty Kid Rock tune? Josh won't mock you.
3. A music theory geek who won't breathe a word of theory into your face unless you're interested.
4. Deep pedagogical experience. You're never going to be presenting him with a challenge he hasn't seen before, and he can keep you both inspired and realistic.
5. All the baseline working-musician and teacher competencies, but at a very high level: can play most things by ear, figure out different arrangements on the fly, troubleshoot your instrument, evaluate and help improve your performances, suggest individualized practice and rehearsal strategies, create video diaries of lessons to share with you, etc.
6. A compassionate and open-minded listener, both of your playing and all the other baggage you bring to the lesson.
In the first six months of lessons, I went from absolute beginner (no musical experience or training whatsoever) to successful performer, onstage with a real band playing real songs. Since then, Josh has helped me continue to progress at a great pace. We've figured out how to play many things I thought were too advanced, he's introduced me to new artists and genres, and has pointed my training in directions I wouldn't have figured out on my own. He's also helped me evaluate guitars and other gear for purchase and identify solid repair shops.
On the practical side, he's responsive and responsible about lesson appointments, correspondence and payment.
If you have been nervous about starting to play (or resuming playing) because finding a teacher feels overwhelming, I encourage you to contact Josh. I'm really glad I did. read more