More About Me

Quality Bluegrass music is my entire life. I started playing guitar at the age of eight and banjo at 16. I am 31 years old and currently live in the Fort Collins, CO area. I play in two bands: The Avogadro's Number House Band and Cosmic Mesa, a newly formed progressive Bluegrass band. You may listen to samples of my playing, singing and our collective sound at www.reverbnation.com/cosmicmesa. I would say the best aspect about my teaching is that I gear each lesson towards the individual student. I create custom tabs for classic tunes, fiddle tunes and some very hard driving and progressive tunes on the cutting edge of modern Bluegrass banjo playing; some of which I have written myself. I have had and do have many successful students who have gone from complete beginners to very competent banjo players. I have played in many many bands over the last 20 or so odd years and have acquired a very thorough working knowledge on what it takes to be a "real" banjo player. I have studied many styles ranging from that of Earl Scruggs to Bela Fleck. My personal taste in banjo playing ( specifically with styles involving the three finger roll) centers around have impeccable timing, good transitions, thoughtful and tasteful improvisation and playing the "right notes" suited to the specific song. For instance, in a more modal mountain sounding song I tend to avoid major 3rds, major 7ths and other tones that do not really go with the song. Instead I will use minor 3rds, diminished 5ths and minor 7ths. I teach the practicality of this to my students through example and tabs.
I also ensure that my students come away with a firm understanding of not only how to play the instrument, but also the music theory behind the instrument. I explain the relationships between chords and intervals and many other aspects of theory. I am a classically trained guitarist as well with a massive amount of experience studying music theory and composition. If you would like to hear my playing at its best, listen to some of my audio files on my homepage. With a lot of practice you can just as easily do the same and possibly more! Thanks for reading, and just to let you know, I am one of only a few banjo teachers in town and it is my promise that you will come away with more and I will match or beat anyone's prices!