Guitar Teachers

Alonso Padron

I teach guitar in the styles of rock, metal, blues, folk, classical, flamenco, and Latin. I also teach bass from beginning through intermediate levels.

My strengths as a musician are that 1) I was gifted with a natural ear, then developed it to the point of excellency. As a result, I can listen to any song or piece by ear and have it worked out in minutes. 2) I am very goal oriented and if I have a goal in mind, I am entirely dedicated to the work at hand and will focus tirelessly to its end, whether it be an original composition or transcription for a student. 3) As a performer, I will practice hours on end in order to master the technique of playing. This way, I can be completely enveloped in the emotional experience of music and in performing. 4) I have developed a great sense of patience through my sixteen years as a teacher.

Both personally and musically, I am a mentor to many of my students. As well, students who take lessons from me will have a good time. I am very friendly, laid-back, and have a good sense of humor. I am like a chameleon in that I can relate to various personalities and ages. In my personal approach, I seek to make people of all ages and personalities comfortable with me, which allows for a balanced reciprocal relationship between the student and myself. My balanced approach allows the student to be comfortable and open as possible about asking any questions they may have pertaining to something they may not understand.

I like teaching many different aspects and approaches of guitar and of music, and I have a great love of teaching soloing/improvising as well as music theory. I don’t have any particular pedagogical techniques/tricks other than I am stringent about application. I never teach theory or technique for its own sake. I always use examples, songs, or pieces as means for application of that theory or technique.

There are a couple of things potential students should be warned about: 1) Detail-I am a stickler for detail in every sense-about technique, form, accuracy of notation, my own transcriptions, and performance for recitals. 2) Attitude-I’m very laid back and easy to get along with as a person and as a teacher, but I will not accept negative attitudes from students. I enjoy teaching students material that they are interested and excited about learning.

My other hobbies and passion include reading, prose writing, nature, film, and travel.

Caleb Hinshaw

My musical education has been diverse and is still a work in progress. I started playing guitar when I was around 14 years old. I had no formal training and had all my lessons at the School of Hard Knocks. I am fortunate to have a much older friend who let me sit in with his band. We played a lot of rock and roll. This experience really developed my ears and my creativity. We never played from sheet music so I had to improvise off the chord progression 100% of the time. I did this until I got to college and went in entirely different musical direction: classical guitar. In college, I learned the same instrument all over again in a completely new way.

I have strong  backgrounds in two completely different musical worlds: improvisation and composed music. I listen to and play many different styles of music: classical, alternative, metal, classic rock, blues, contemporary, hip-hop, funk, jazz, etc.

My teaching style is definitely subject to my own musical education. I teach all of my students the technique, coordination, reading skills and music theory that a classical classical musician would learn while incorporating all other desired styles music. I also stress the ability to improvise and jam on any given song. Music is a language that we can all speak, most just lack ability to communicate on an instrument. This is very important to me. I encourage all of my students to play either with me, friends, parents or other students.

Casey McCann

I've been teaching lessons full-time for almost ten years, with a bit of time in there for writing, performing, and, these days, being an administrator.

I grew up in a musical family, although my formal education didn't start until I was eleven years old. My dad has a basement band that has been meeting every week since I was in the womb, and my uncle is a classical pianist who used to practice at our house late at night. So, one night I might fall asleep listening to Scarlatti and Chopin, and then the next night it would be "Cinnamon Girl" and "Love in Vain." My school is called Eclectic Music for a reason!

What I enjoy most about teaching is giving students the skills to succeed on their own - my goal is for my students to not need me anymore in order to accomplish their goals. I like to teach students how to practice, how to figure stuff out by ear, and how to set goals for their own progress.

For more about me, please visit caseymccann.com.

Eliot Bronson

I'm a singer/songwriter, guitar player, and part of the Indie-folk-rock band called The Brilliant Inventions. We've been voted Best New Local Music Act by Creative Loafing, and were winners of the Eddie's Attic Shootout (also won by John Mayer). I've played all over the country, performed on radio and television, won songwriting awards, and shared the stage with some amazing national acts.

As a teacher, I specialize in songwriting and performance -- giving my students the practical tools I've learned over the years as professional musician. While I do teach music reading and music theory, my strength lies in teaching by ear. I try to keep lessons fun and encouraging, and tailored to the interests of the student. I love to work with beginners and kids as well as more experienced players who want to sharpen their skills.

Michael McGill

I’m a veteran musician but a fairly new teacher, so my approach is constantly evolving. I try to find which of the many possible initial avenues of approach will grab the student (usually a good song, of course!), and then break it down and build it back up to show how the writer and the players made it so good. There are forays into theory and technique, but always circling back around into how to play a song with passion and effectiveness, how to find that thing that you want to express; how to explore, and then how to do something constructive with your explorations.

My top guitar models include George Harrison (the king of Playing For the Song); Pete Townshend (the same in a different way: Mr. Crunch, Mr. Excitement-Builder, Mr. Let-Your-Bandmates Shine); Jimi Hendrix (the no-walls, let-it-all-hang-out, is-it-rhythm-or-is-it-lead genius of SOUL-more-than-blues guitar); and countless others, simple and fancy, graceful and hard. Not to mention many masters of other instruments: not really an “axe-head,” I’m a big fan of Erroll Garner’s piano, Miles Davis’s trumpet, Beethoven’s and Tchaikovsky’s and Chopin’s compositions, and Keith Moon’s drumming… and I refuse to accept that at least some bit of their brilliance can’t be packed into (or at least implied by) mine and my students’ playing!

Tara Chiusano

I teach guitar in the styles of folk, rock,and blues, but my specialty is teaching beginning students - especially kids! It's mainly because I've been a professional children's musician and entertainer for the past several years so I've picked up a few things about how to get kids excited about music. I'm very patient, nurturing, and always use a lot of positive reinforcement with my students to help them with learning how to play guitar.

Back when I was fourteen years old, I picked up a guitar for the first time and it was love at first strum. I taught myself how to play songs by some of my favorite bands and artists: The Beatles, The Doors, and Johnny Cash. I loved playing guitar so much that I practiced every day and started teaching my first class when I was eighteen. Saving enough money to record a few folk songs that I wrote, I was hoping to one day become a superstar.

I went to James Madison University, where I majored in Theater and minored in Music. I continued writing songs and eventually wrote my "Peanut Butter and Jelly" song which then launched me into pursuing a career writing songs for children. After graduating from college, I settled in Washington, D.C. working for Musikids, Inc. which provided early childhood music classes for children all over the metro area. All of my training and experience working with young children at Musikids, Inc. helped me to transition into becoming a full-time early childhood music teacher and performer. I now have three self-produced original CDs for kids, Music for Traveling Tots, Jelly Bean Tree,and Walk the Plank!. In between performing and teaching "mommy-and-me" classes, I continued teaching guitar on nights and weekends.

Recently my husband and I moved to Decatur, GA and I've been teaching early childhood music and movement classes, guitar lessons, drama classes, and performing my original Pre-K program all over the Atlanta-metro area. My event business, Music with Miss Tara, offers birthday parties and other programs for children. My music is available for sale at Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, GA, iTunes, Amazon.com, CD Baby, and other major online retailers.