Guitar

Chris Weatherbie

Guitar, Bass, Piano, Ukulele

Works with

Ages 6 - 18

Shines with

Beginners

Not currently accepting new students

What is your musical background?

I got really into piano and guitar my senior year of high school. I just wanted to play along to some of my favorite songs on the radio. I don't think I became competent in guitar until my freshman year of college. I never went to school for it, but I took classes at Pima. I'm mostly self-taught. I’ve been in bands, what I really enjoyed about playing in a band was the sense of community, how we all came together. Even though we had different influences and interests, and we were able to come together and just play music, and just kind of groove along to the things that we came up with. I write music, I write a lot of poetry. It’s a lot of alt rock, pop punk.

How long have you been teaching? Why do you teach music?

I’ve been teaching for about two years, most consistently here at the Fretboard. Before that, I mostly taught informally, working with some of my friends. I've substituted in music classes, I’m a sub for a few different districts. I have a bachelors in elementary education. I’m studying to be certified as a teacher in the Tucson Unified School District - I want to be a music teacher.

My favorite thing about teaching is just getting people interested in music and learning more about it, understanding a little bit more of the craftsmanship behind it. And just being able to appreciate your favorite songs on a deeper level. It's really cool seeing people get excited playing music. Like, I actually did that! That's really cool.

What are your students like? Who do you work best with?

My youngest students are around seven. I work with high school age students, too, mainly beginners.

What do you want your students to take away from their time with you?

That music can be applied to their life outside of just learning – and that it can come from stuff they really enjoy. I teach students the Mario song, I have certain students who just want to play songs from video games. And I guess just that music is a really great thing, and it's a way to build communication and community.

What is a favorite musical memory?

There was one band I was in and everyone just played everything. No one was assigned to lead singer, no one was assigned to lead guitarist or whatever. We just played whatever we wanted, and we all had a really good time. That’s one thing I really like about music, you can build community and you can understand. And you can get other influences and discover new things.

Dominick Lalli

Guitar, Bass,

Audio Engineering, Rock Band

Works with

Age 6 to 18

Adults

Shines with

Age 12 to 18

What is your musical background?

I started out messing around with synthesizers and electronic music, because that’s what my dad had always done. He’d been a DJ. I got into playing acoustic guitar in 5th grade. In middle school I started playing bass with the orchestra band. That was where I learned to read music, and learned a good amount of my music theory. Around that same time I started my first band and played with them. All throughout high school, my main focus was on building bands and trying to find a band that I could write music with.

How long have you been teaching? Why do you teach music?

I taught informally for about 7 years, since I started my first band. It was just my friends and I was the only person who played, so I had to teach all of them. In high school I was usually the top guitar player in my classes, and the teacher would have me tutor the other kids. I’ve been teaching here for 2 years. Teaching music really empowers people. It's just a good skill to have and it's fun. It’s the thing that I enjoy most in my life, so being able to teach somebody else who might enjoy it just as much is really cool.

How would you describe your teaching style and methods?

I wouldn't say that I have a definitive way that I like to teach, because I’ve seen how everyone learns so differently. I try to see what each person responds best to and go from there. I take so many different approaches, it really just depends on the person. For instance, sometimes I’ll use Google Classroom and show things on the screen. But there are a lot of people that don't like that. Some people I’m talking through things, showing them on my guitar. Sometimes we're doing songs they wouldn't think that you could play on guitar, like electronic songs or weirdly instrumented songs. Those I'll figure it out, so I can teach it to them. It really depends on the person.

For practice, again, I think a lot comes down to the person - the age, the amount of free time. In general, I’d say the minimum would be 10 to 15 minutes a week. But if you're really trying to make strides, then probably more like at least 10 to 15 minutes a day.

What are your students like? Who do you work best with?

My students are all so different. I have two adult students, and the rest range from 6 to 18. How young you can be to start with guitar depends on the person. Some kids are really good with their hands and really good with understanding directions. I've never had any issues with teaching someone older than 9 or 10.

What do you want your students to take away from their time with you?

At the end of the day, it's all about just enjoying it, no matter your skill level. Just having fun with the process. I feel like with anything, if you're not enjoying it, then there's not really a point to doing it. So, to not approach it with too serious of an attitude.

What is a favorite musical memory?

When I was in middle school, they used to go around all the middle schools and pick out the best kids from the honors bands. We got to go to Cienega and play with the high school band twice a week for a few weeks, and eventually we got to play at the halftime show at one of the football games. Being in middle school and getting to do that was a really amazing experience.

What can students and parents expect during the first few lessons?

For someone who's never had any experience with the instrument, the first lesson will be more of an introduction to the instrument and its parts, what physically makes up a guitar. From there, I’ll figure out what music they like. I’ll experiment with different teaching styles to see what they respond best to, so I can find what’s going to be most helpful to them in the long run. Some kids like to have their parents sit in on the first couple lessons. Once they warm up, even the shy ones, they’re ready to learn one on one.

John Welsh

Guitar, Classical Guitar, Piano, Drums, Theory, Composition, Rock Band

Works with

All ages

Guitar - all levels

Drums - beginner to high intermediate

Piano - beginner to low intermediate

Shines with

Ages 9 & up

What is your musical background?

I started playing guitar when I was around 13, and had a pretty conventional kind of beginning. I had a band with my friends. I started to get really into jazz around 14 or 15 and slowly started to learn how to play it a little bit. By the time I graduated high school, I was playing a lot more and started to play in some jam sessions. Eventually I started going to Mesa Community College, and realized that I was getting very serious about studying music. So, I applied to a couple of schools on the East Coast and I got into The New School for Jazz and Contemporary music in New York. From there, I went and did a master's program in Composition at Wesleyan University, in Connecticut. One thing that's made me sort of unique is I have a pretty strong background in what they call freely improvised music. So I’ve played a lot with people where there is kind of no set tune, we just start to play and see what we come up with.

How long have you been teaching? Why do you teach music?

I’ve taught formally and informally for about 15 years. Initially I taught private guitar lessons, going into people’s homes. In Brooklyn, I taught in a Chinese American community school. I did some summer orchestra camps, and most recently taught in the public school system in Phoenix. I wanted to shift gears a bit, and went back to doing private lessons.

I realized that that teaching is as much a part of being a musician, as any of the other things that we do, the different phases you go through. From being in your own of zone of practicing a lot, then playing with others and playing out, and that sort of leads to teaching. The more I've done it, the more I realized that it's just kind of one of those nodes along this along this path that you're on. So many of the things I did before I really started to teach have informed how I teach and informed how I think about music. And I’ve learned so much in just teaching lessons. W hat it is that people respond to when they are responding to music? What is it that people like about music? What are the things that draw people in? I think I've gained a big appreciation of how music can be important for people in ways other than just going to the show and screaming your head off.

How would you describe your teaching style and methods?

I come from a jazz background – my lessons aren’t rooted in a classical pedagogy. With the three main instruments that I teach, there are some things I hope to be able to work on a little bit with all students. I think all drummers should know a little bit about rudiments and how they work. With piano, I always try to emphasize exercises and learning scales and having stuff that you can practice that aren’t songs. It really can be very beneficial to sort of turn your brain off and just see play through this same thing. On guitar, it’s the same thing – like scale shapes. Then just as much, maybe a little bit more, I lean into what the student is interested in, and making sure that whatever we're doing is related to that.

What are your students like? Who do you work best with?

I think I've had equal experience all ability levels. Guitar, I’m comfortable with all levels. Drums, I’m good with beginners to just past intermediate. On keys, once a student gets to that intermediate level, it’s best they graduate to another teacher. I work best with older kids and adults, age 9-10 and up.

What do you want your students to take away from their time with you?

To always have some fun with musical things and lessons, whether it's a saving of five or ten minutes at the end to kind of have a little bit of free time to just play around on the piano, plunk different notes, see how they sound. To keep it fun, make sure that there's always some element of fun in there, some element of – just the joy of, it makes us sound when you hit it. To try to keep some connection with that.

What is a favorite musical memory?

There's this one show I always think of. I played in this group for a while, we played a lot of shows, we did a little tour. The last show that I played with that group was at this big theater in Brooklyn called Roulette. And it was kind of a cool closing to my time being in that group. We'd rehearsed a lot at each other's apartments just for fun, played shows around New York, eventually did a little tour around like the northeast, that was really great. And then all of that stuff kind of culminated in this pretty amazing show in this big theater that was very well attended. And we were all up on stage, everybody had a little station of weird electronics and stuff that they were doing. There were about six or seven of us and we were all kind of spread out on the stage. It was really a great memory, the stuff that we were doing we had pretty dialed in at that at that point. It was one of those kind of effortless shows where it's just like, I don’t even feel like I'm doing much but like everything seems really cool. Everything's amazing. Yeah, it was. I think of that show. That was really wonderful.

What can students and parents expect during the first few lessons?

I try to keep an open slate a little bit. I try not to have any expectations, and see where they're at. For beginners on piano, the first few lessons are focused on getting your hands on the instrument, what does it feel like to make this thing make sound. Being deliberate about it, like, going through and playing every single key and just see that they all work, that they all do the same thing, that the sound gets higher as it goes this way, it gets lower as it goes this way. Usually little kids do that anyway. It’s a little trickier on guitar, because that requires a bit more coordination to kind of get it to sound like something than it does on the piano. Drums, usually, people don't have a problem hitting the drum. The very first lessons are also getting to know each other. And I like them to leave with something concrete, that they can practice.

Taylor Bracamonte

Guitar, Audio Engineering

Works with

All ages & stages

Shines with

Intermediate students

What is your musical background?

My basic knowledge of guitar and music took form with one-on-one lessons during my school years. My teacher had a very cool teaching style and his wealth of knowledge made the lessons so valuable that I remained a loyal student well into high school. Growing older, I opted for a more self-taught approach. The pressure to get a degree compelled me to start taking music theory classes at Pima Community College. After several semesters I decided instead to enroll at The Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences (CRAS). During my time at CRAS I learned the trades of audio engineering, professional recording and music business.

After graduating I moved to New York City to find work. I landed an internship at Jimi Hendrix’s famous Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village. After working as a general studio assistant in New York I moved back to this area of the country and continued to work in studio management roles while also doing freelance music instruction and AV gig-work. Working directly with artists and musicians has helped me keep my chops up and enabled me to continue pursuing my main passion: recording original music and performing it live, something I have always loved.

How long have you been teaching? Why do you teach music?

I’ve had 10 years of involvement with bands, band leadership, guitar instruction and professional music production.I have always had a natural inclination to share the joy of playing an instrument with others, regardless of skill level. I am inspired by my former guitar teacher, and how his patient and thorough approach made me the player I am today. I feel obligated to pass-on the knowledge I have gained, and help students avoid the musical pitfalls I experienced. In this role, I find fulfillment in helping students overcome personal challenges and self doubt. Surmounting these obstacles strengthens the player, as well as our musical community as a whole

How would you describe your teaching style and methods?

My teaching style is dynamic and custom-tailored to every student. I’ve found that beginner students usually benefit from a calm, laid-back approach. On the contrary, intermediate players often require me to function as a musical drill sergeant. I consider when to use these different teaching styles based off of individual factors such as age, skill level, and the nuances of the student-teacher relationship. I believe that students excel at learning when they encounter as little resistance as possible. The easiest way for me to ensure things are flowing is to make sure the student is always on their own musical path, guided by their own tastes and interests - I think this is the most important aspect for every skill level.

What are your students like? Who do you work best with?

My students represent all ages and backgrounds. I have the most fun teaching intermediate-players, but I enjoy teaching all ages and levels.

What do you want your students to take away from their time with you?

My students represent all ages and backgrounds. I have the most fun teaching intermediate-players, but I enjoy teaching all ages and levels.

What can students and parents expect during the first few lessons?

During the first lesson I determine a student’s skill-level, and their favorite music and/or band. This information helps me plan a custom trajectory for instruction. Students and parents can also expect a general overview about the instrument, tuning, and a demonstration of the basic rudimentary techniques. If students can hit 1-2 notes then ideally the system of guitar tablature will be explained, and the student will be sent home with a simple song to learn or attempt at home. Students and parents can really expect things to take stride by lessons 3-4.