Sea of Stars:
Music Academy
About us:
Thoughts of a Dreamer:
I always knew I wanted to be a guitar player since the age of 15. Working as a professional musician comes with its' share of hardships but we all know, or should know, the raw power that music can have on us. The emotional impact it can have in our lives. It changes us. It guides us. There is no denying what music can do.
My true passion is to the study and exploration of music, particularly the guitar, and how music affects us. I don't claim to know everything or be the best but I’ve had plenty of experience studying the guitar in just about every skill level - from beginner to advanced techniques. Now I'd like to share my 25+ years of knowledge with others in hopes that the joy of music will grow.
No matter who I’m teaching, I thrive on seeing my students grow and develop as they discover what they can achieve. Any of my friends or family will tell you that they have almost never seen me without a guitar attached to me. If I can still find enjoyment from it after 25 years, I know you can too.
Let's explore and discover together!
My Background
Qualifications and Experience
September 1997-February 2001
During this period, I was introduced to my mother's acoustic guitar. What we didn't expect was that I was left-handed and the guitar was right-handed so I took it upon myself to switch the strings so I could play. Needless to say it didn't sound too good and I couldn't reach up the neck too far but for learning simple chords, it worked. Not long after, I bought an electric guitar at a yardsale but of course it was right-handed so I had to switch the strings on that one as well. I continued learning this way for about a year or so until my parents got me lessons from an instructor from our Church. Mr. Bernie taught me all the basics and even made it exciting by helping me learn songs that I was listening to at the time. This continued for a couple of years. My fondest memory was performing a song by the Foo Fighters "Big Me" for a recital and it affirmed my desire to play the guitar. Later, I took lessons from an instructor named Colin who taught me more of the intermediate lessons on guitar playing. When that ended, I had learned alot and began to develop my own playing style.
March 2001-2017
During this period, I began to want to do more with the guitar. I had learned rhythm playing from my instructors but I wanted to be the guy who played the lead guitar stuff so I studied my favorite artists and their songs one after the other until I could play lead guitar. But it wasn't enough that I could play like other guitar players. I wanted to play with my own unique style so I began to write my own music and studied how everyone else did it. Once I had a few songs, I found an ad for a band looking for a guitar player to play a show in Poughkeepsie, NY. I answered the ad and met them at their practice space in Greenbelt, MD. After the show, we became good friends and continued to write music together. We eventually booked our own shows and went out to perform the music we had learned. By 2016, we were ready to record a demo of our 11 songs. We went on to write 2 more songs after that which we released as singles on Alexa.
January 2023