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Jam to The Temptations’ “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” guided by star teacher Shane! Good luck and keep shredding! For more tutorials, click here. To take a lesson with Tia, click here!

13 Three-Chord Guitar Songs For Beginners With only three chords–D, G and A7–beginning guitar players can start playing guitar right away, with lots of amazing songs.  In fact, if you know these three chords you can even start playing “Happy Birthday”–and that means you and your guitar can be the lynchpin of any birthday celebration for the rest of your life.That’s cool!   O

Group Music Classes vs. Private Music Lessons: Which Should You Choose? By Ashley Kelly and Dan Emery So, you’ve finally decided that you want to take music lessons (guitar, vocal, piano, etc.), and now you’re faced with a question: do I take private lessons or group classes? Ultimately, the decision is entirely up to you. However, it is important to weigh the pros and cons of both options, which

Why Music Teachers Must Have A Cancellation Policy: How To Conceive, Establish And Maintain An Effective Policy   What is the most valuable commodity on the planet?  The non-renewable, always diminishing stuff; which when used correctly yields every great thing, and when wasted is gone forever? It is time.   This blog post is about YOUR TIME, and why as a music teacher, you must have a late c

The Post-It Note Of Power Little tweaks in your environment help you get and stay on track. This works for lunch–and for practicing guitar!   I think it would be a good idea if I took a lunch to work more often. Using up leftovers instead of getting lunch out is a WIN for the environment and proper respect for my wife’s awesome cooking! Eating home-cooked food means avoiding unhealthy f

Rock out to The Cranberries’ “Dreams,” guided by star teacher Tia! Good luck and keep shredding! For more tutorials, click here. To take a lesson with Tia, click here!

From Tiny Acorns, Mighty Oaks. From Little Chords, Mighty Songs. No matter what your master plan is,  just take it one twig at a time. When I was a kid, my mom used to say, “From tiny acorns, mighty oaks.”  She meant that small beginnings lead to great results over time.   The little acorn spends years and years reaching up into the sky for the light and down into the earth for th

Rock out to Imagine Dragons’ “Believer,” guided by star teacher Michelangelo, featuring Madeline! Good luck and keep shredding! For more tutorials, click here. To take a lesson with Michelangelo, click here!

Be The Guitar Player You Wish To Be How Getting Better At Guitar, Having More Self Respect, And Creating A Better Society Are Kinda The Same Thing “…who is not busy being born is busy dying.”–Bob Dylan You and I are on a journey through time–and we are a little bit of a different person at each stage of the journey, at the end of each year, week and day. It’s not just physical tr

14 Two-Chord Guitar Songs For Beginners with D and G Guitar may take a lifetime to master–but unlike the harpsichord and trombone, beginning guitar players can start making beautiful and awesome music RIGHT AWAY. In fact, with only two chords, D Major and G Major, you can already start playing lots of amazing songs. But as a beginner, it can be hard to figure out songs which are simple enoug

REALITY BASED PARENTING When We Try To Keep Our Kids Safe, Are We Actually Harming Them?     I looked up from the New York Times online. “Hey, Miriam,” I asked my wife, “remember the park-bench-lady?” “The one who told us that if we didn’t make our kids stop jumping from park bench to park bench she’d call the police?  How could I forget?”  We were reading one of last week’s most shared artic

Jam to Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth,” guided by star teacher Shane! Good luck and keep shredding! For more tutorials, click here. To take a lesson with Shane, click here!

**Or, gosh, a better anything! Dear NYC Guitar School Student,   I know we’re all guitar players…but in order to learn to become better at guitar, for a moment, let’s pretend that instead you want to get REALLY STRONG, with FIRM and SHAPELY MUSCLES. Sound good?   Objective: Firm, shapely and strong muscles.   What will you do to achieve this objective? You decide to work out,

Students Playing their First Show: Advice from Teacher to Teacher Written by long-time Queens and East teacher Tony Calabro, edited by Jobelle Mesa While we as teachers should never pressure a student to participate in a show, a little encouragement is sometimes all it takes to get them on stage. Letting a student know you believe in them enough to suggest they perform is a great thing, whether th

Groove to David Guetta’s “Titanium,” guided by star teacher Daisy! Good luck and keep shredding! For more tutorials, click here. To take a lesson with Daisy, click here!

Get jamming with Camila Cabello’s “Havana,” guided by star teacher Daisy! Good luck and keep shredding! For more tutorials, click here. To take a lesson with Daisy, click here!

This Independence Day, Get Better Parenting Results By Encouraging Your Kids To Embrace Life, Liberty And The Pursuit Of Happiness In celebration of this Independence Day, I’d like to discuss the independence of our very own dependents–our kids.  Because it turns out that in parenting as well as nations, enlightened self government gets better results than tyranny and despotism! As parents,

Power ballad you heart out with Sam Smith’s “Too Good at Goodbyes,” guided by star teacher Michelangelo! Good luck and keep shredding! For more tutorials, click here. To take a lesson with Michelangelo, click here!

How Much Does A Guitar Lesson Cost? One of the first questions new guitar players ask is: How much do guitar lessons cost? On the face, this is a simple question, but there are some complicating factors. In this blog post I will try my best to explain guitar lesson pricing and options, both at NYC Guitar School and around New York City. There are many different considerations in getting a guitar l

  Get sassy with Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself,” guided by star teacher Michelangelo! Good luck and keep shredding! For more tutorials, click here. To take a lesson with Michelangelo, click here!

(**Your(future)self, that is!) Dear Guitar Student, Last night I walked into my son’s room, grabbed his guitar, and started jamming on some Ozzy Osbourne while he did homework and listened to music. Shockingly, his taste in music is not identical to mine. “Dad,” he complained, “if you’re going to play guitar, can you at least play along with the songs I’m listen

Serenade someone special – or yourself! – with Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud,” guided by star teacher Kyle! Good luck and keep shredding! For more tutorials, click here. To take a lesson with Kyle, click here!

Jam to Vance Joy’s “Riptide,” guided by star teacher Shane! Good luck and keep shredding! For more tutorials, click here. To take a lesson with Shane, click here!

Play your heart out with Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me,” guided by star teacher Shane! Good luck and keep shredding! For more tutorials, click here. To take a lesson with Shane, click here!

Learn to serenade your loved ones with Ed Sheeran’s #1 hit “Perfect,” with star teacher Jaime! Good luck and keep shredding! For more tutorials, click here. To take a lesson with Jaime, click here!

Learn to rock Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” with star teacher Jaime! Good luck and keep shredding! For more tutorials, click here. To take a lesson with Jaime, click here!

Learn to rock “What About Us” with star teacher Daisy! Good luck and keep shredding! For more tutorials, click here. To take a lesson with Daisy, click here!

Learn to rock “Falling Slowly” with star teacher Emilio! Good luck and keep shredding! For more tutorials, click here. To take a lesson with Emilio, click here!

Learn to rock out to Adele with star teacher Daisy! Good luck and keep shredding! For more tutorials, click here. To take a lesson with Daisy, click here!

Dear Guitar Student, Science tells us that the brain is changeable. When you practice playing your guitar, you are literally creating new pathways in your neurons, which are cells in your brain. After you’ve practiced, you aren’t the same person you used to be–you are physically different. There are different connections between your neurons than there used to be, and some of tho

Dear Guitar Student Parent, The Guardian newspaper recently reported that late night texting, calling and media consumption is associated with poor sleep (duh!) and also “depressed moods and declines in self-esteem and coping ability” for kids and teens.  In fact, the mere presence of a screen in a bedroom is associated with poorer sleep and mental health, even when kids report not usi

Over years of teaching people how to play guitar, I have become convinced that anyone who wants to play, can play. The most important musical talent is not a good ear, or a good sense of rhythm, although these gifts are important and should be developed. No, the most important talent is that of desire. If you enjoy music enough to want to play the guitar, then you are musical enough to learn to pl