Emery is currently teaching our 13-year-old son acoustic guitar, and he is phenomenal. He is warm,…read morefriendly, encouraging and an amazing teacher and musician. Emery lets our son choose the songs he wants to learn (while supplying helpful suggestions and feedback on the choices), and he then uses each song to teach and reinforce skills and technique. Incorporating fundamentals in this way keeps our son engaged and excited. It is always a delight to hear the two of them playing together--Emery is instilling a deep love of music and a sense of accomplishment and confidence in our son that is so valuable at this age. Emery is a wonderful teacher and a truly kind soul.

Emery has been teaching our son guitar for over a year, and -- simply put -- he is FANTASTIC. Emery…read moreis both a very talented musician and a natural-born teacher. His method with our ninth grade son is to let him pick the song which he wants to learn on guitar and then use it as a vehicle for teaching technique and music theory. This pedagogy seems to be working very well since our son (1) loves to practice the guitar (since it is always a song of his choosing) and (2) has significantly grown in his musicianship since his time with Emery. As a teacher, Emery blends his Oberlin College Conservatory training with an innate ability to connect with young people. I think you would be hard-pressed to find a better guitar teacher than Emery. He has our 100% endorsement.

Don is an awesome teacher. He has a deep knowledge of music and explains things super clearly…read more Lessons are tailored to my goals and style. Best music teacher I found!

Mike is an extremely talented musician. I hired him to play accordion during the cocktail and…read moreappetizer hour for my wedding. He is a gifted entertainer, a delight to watch, and just all around fun guy while still maintaining professionalism.

Mr. Thanh is a very responsible teacher and patient with my son who was eight at the time. He…read moreencouraged my son and set goals for him to practice during through pandemic (both virtual and in person lessons).

I would highly recommend taking guitar lessons from Thanh. Starting as a complete beginner, I had…read morebeen a student of Thanh's for about one year till he relocated and I could no longer visit once a week. Those one-hour guitar lessons were highlights of the week. Thanh has extraordinary talent and skills as a guitarist, and is passionate and approachable as a guitar instructor. He conveys the joy of playing music and sharing the ability of playing music. He is an intelligent, patient, caring, encouraging, and humble person. I found Thanh by looking for flamenco guitarist in bay area. With MA degree in guitar performance, Thanh has solid knowledge and teaching experience in guitar and music fundamentals. Step by step, I have learned reading music and playing classical guitar pieces in our lessons. Thanh has done great in directing our focus and controlling the pace of practice. He did not rush into teaching well-known works, but rather, would explain the basics thoroughly and see to my familiarity. Through his patience, I realized that the beauty of playing classical guitar does not just arise from performing, but more importantly, resides in the deliberate work towards excellence. Being Thanh's student was the best thing for a guitar beginner. I was content with every step of the progress, and found the practice soothing, despite great time and efforts it required. The attitude was key to my improvement, and has greatly helped me through the years. Fortunately and unfortunately, I cannot find a better guitar teacher anywhere.

Jeff is a fantastic guitar instructor…read more I have been taking lessons with Jeff for 6 years. I played guitar for many years and then stopped playing for a long time and began to miss it. Jeff has helped me find my love of playing again. Jeff's lessons are tailored to his students and what you want to learn. If you want to learn music theory Jeff will focus the lessons on that. If you'd like to learn how to play songs, you can do that. When I first started taking lessons I told him I only wanted to play rhythm guitar not lead because I wasn't good at it. The more we played together, the more I started to gain confidence through our work together. Now I am learning both rhythm and lead and having a great time playing both. Also, through the songs I'm learning I'm learning theory as well. Jeff has pushed me out of my comfort zone, in the best way. I am learning and playing things I never thought I could. His confidence in me has caused me to believe I can be a good lead player as well. He is very patient and will take doesn't mind going over things more than once. He makes sure you understand the correct technique in addition to the music on the page. Jeff understands busy lives. I work full-time and often find getting enough practice time challenging. He understands and works with my progress level. I can say my playing has improved from taking lessons with Jeff. I would highly recommend him to anyone, at any level, wanting to learn to play guitar.

I've been taking lessons from Jeff for about...5 or 6 years now. I was a total start from scratch…read morebeginner on the guitar, and Jeff is the most incredible teacher. I would rate myself today as an average-ish skilled guitar player, only because I don't practice NEARLY as much as a good and prudent student would. I play purely for hobby. I'm sure if I applied myself on that level, I would be HELLA good.... because that is how phenomenal a teacher Jeff is. He will individualize your lesson to be whatever you are seeking to experience on your guitar journey. My absolute favorite thing is asking him to teach me any random song of my choice and then proceed to watch him re-compose it in tabs or sheet music...by ear. In less than an hour. To witness his process is like watching live musical genius at work. It's so cool and fun. He is more than qualified to teach and has an impressive music education. His grasp on the classical, technical, structural aspects of music theory boggles my mind. Literally. His actual skill is quite remarkable as well. He gigs in a band, he composes his own music, his vibe is progressive east bay ARTISTÉ, funny and sarcastic as hell, patient, cool as shit and a good human being. I've seen him play live a few times, and he is entertaining to watch and always kills on the guitar. He really should be famous...and he would humbly disagree... But he's an underrated musician and I would definitely watch for this dude. If you need a guitar teacher, beginner or seeking to hone existing skills, take a chance on Jeff. You wont regret it.

Excellent teacher with an analytical perspective that helps to identify mistakes early with clear…read moreopportunities for growth. Tailors style to fit technique/performance focused approaches.

Alden is a great teacher. Learning to play the bass was extremely fun and comprehensible with his…read moreguidance. I'm really glad that I chose to take lessons with him. He taught me everything thoroughly, even things like how to put the bass in the bag and how to take it out. Furthermore, scheduling was a breeze with my tight schedule. Alden is truly one of the best.

Jim was my first guitar teacher, back in 1977, and he felt that I would benefit by tackling Eric…read moreClapton's version of "Hideaway." I protested, but I stuck with it, and I managed to come up with a presentable rendition after many months. I'm grateful to him for insisting that I could do it. Jim has always had extensive printed material to look at, and I benefited from studying it. He also had note-for-note recordings of many soloes, that guided me through all the steps. The other thing I go from him was lessons in how to get the best tone from my equipment. That included him coming out to our rehearsal space, and listening to the amp in the work environment. I was grateful for this feedback, and it helped me improve my stage presence. I asked about taking lessons again a few years ago, but realized I could no longer devote the kind of practice time that would have been necessary. As noted in another review, Jim isn't going to continue doing lessons with someone if they aren't benefitting from them. I recommend Jim highly, and am glad that he's still available for lessons.

Jim Gleason has worked with my family on several music related endeavors. In all cases, Jim has…read morealways been super accommodating, professional and adaptable. Jim is a phenomenal guitarist himself and is one of the rare breed that teaches as well as he plays. Deeper, he studies and understands different theories of learning, as do some of the best teachers I have worked with and known. This means he is extremely adaptable in how he works with different types of learners as well as with different levels of motivation. He is able to meet each musician at his/her current level of interest and expertise and then move them forward from there. I can speak from experience with my own family. First, there's me. I was new to music at a later age. In my case, Jim was able to accommodate a busy working schedule that didn't allow a lot of practice time. His patience and persistence helped me advance. After a year, while no Jimi Hendrix, I can see and appreciate guitar playing in a whole new light. Second, my son who is actually a drummer. Jim brought my son into lessons to help him play with others better. Additionally, Jim worked with my son's band and helped him play in a group in a superlative way. I think teenagers interested in playing solo or in a band are very well suited for Jim's strengths. Third, my daughter. In an experiment, we tried to give my very young daughter lessons. She responded but clearly wasn't ready. Jim recommended she not continue. This episode shows he's interested in teaching, not taking your money. Overall, Jim is adaptable and interactive in his teaching approach. For example, he records custom videos (he's super techie) to help students improve and evolve. With him, there's no one size fits all. Rather, everyone gets custom tailoring. The guitar courses he has both published in hard copy and developed online are, to put it mildly, comprehensive. In addition, he is facile with technology, which is why my kids and I were able to continue our guitar studies with him after moving to Los Angeles. This also gives you a sense of his range, as my daughter started as a twelve-year-old, my son as a nine­ year-old, and me as, well, a much older adult. Based on my experience, I can see Jim working in a range of settings, with individuals, small groups of students, and/ or groups coning together as a band and improving both individual and performance skills. Lastly, it should be pointed out that Jim is in this for the music. He's published a free and comprehensive online guitar course, Guitar Improv and Comping. You can see it here: http://www.guitarencyclopedia.com/zzGuitarImprov.pdf

Tim has been teaching me how to play tenor sax this year. He knows the ins and outs of his…read moreinstrument, and is an energetic and passionate instructor. He's very good at identifying problems and coming up with multiple solutions. He's also extremely encouraging and patient. Tim is very eager to have his students succeed, and it shows in his teaching. My playing has improved greatly in the time I have spent with him. He is also a world renowned performer, recording artist, and author. I highly recommend him as a teacher.

I've been working with Tim Lin for a couple years now and can honestly say that my musicianship has…read moretaken huge strides since I started. Tim has a wealth of knowledge in all styles of music and really stresses the importance of learning the core fundamentals of music theory. If you come to Tim, you won't just learn how to master an instrument, you will learn how to become a master musician.