I am currently teaching guitar, fiddle, mandolin autoharp, dulcimer, and banjo. I have been offering private instruction on those instruments for more than thirty years. I hold lessons at my home studio, Harmonic Resources, and at the Trumansburg (NY) Conservatory of Fine Arts. I present an annual recital each spring where all students are encouraged to display their progress. This is a very exciting event that allows the students to develop performance skills and poise before an audience as well as to show their friends and family their sometimes astonishing progress on their chosen instrument.

I also conduct workshops on aspects of playing autoharp, dulcimer and fiddle for beginners, intermediate and advanced players at folk festivals and gatherings.

I am offering instruction for the following instruments and styles:

GUITAR – ELECTRIC AND ACOUSTIC - BLUES, ROCK, COUNTRY, FOLK, FINGERSTYLE, CLASSICAL, EXPERIMENTAL AND ALTERNATE TUNINGS. Over the years I have developed a systematic approach to guitar which progresses from simple melodies and the fundamental physical skills to advanced work on fretboard theory. Once a student has a firm grasp of the basics, I work with him/her in selecting a particular style(s) to pursue. In all styles I teach conventional notation, tablature and playing by ear.

CLASSICAL GUITAR - For classical students, I use my own exercises and my 24 progressive guitar studies as well as the more familiar Sor, Carcassi and Carulli.

In ROCK AND BLUES styles I emphasize ear training, careful listening to recorded masters in these genres, as well as the techniques and skills necessary for authentic and powerful guitar playing. I also devote some time to the historical development of blues and rock music.

For those who want to pursue FOLK AND COUNTRY styles on the guitar, I offer a wealth of experience and knowledge. I emphasize developing solid understanding and skill at accompaniment. Then I show students how to develop flatpicking and fingerpicking melody styles.

I actually learned to play FINGERSTYLE GUITAR in alternate tunings before I could play in the conventional EADGBE tuning. With many decades of experience, I can show interested students how to play in common DADGAD and DGDF#AD (Vastopol) tunings as well as more exotic alternatives. For advanced students, I enjoy helping them explore the exciting sonic possibilities of the instrument.

FIDDLE – I have developed a course that rapidly develops the fundamental skills, emphasizing correct bowing and intonation, at the same time teaching enjoyable, simple fiddle tunes. As the student advances, we can specialize in southern appalachian, new england, or blues fiddling.

AUTOHARP – This instrument is enjoying a resurgence in popularity. Much of what I learned on the autoharp I learned from the great master, Kilby Snow. As usual, I put great stress on the (often neglected) basics. The result is clarity of tone, dynamic control and the ability to play complex melodies on this beautiful instrument.

MOUNTAIN, APPALACHIAN or LAP DULCIMER – Different names for the same instrument. I began playing the dulcimer over forty years ago. I teach styles ranging from traditional strummed, single string melodies to fingerpicked styles in conventional DAdd or DAaa tunings as well as more exotic tunings.

FRAILING BANJO – I concentrate on developing good rhythm and sense of timing as the student learns simple and enjoyable traditional tunes in the common G tuning. Once the basics are mastered, we can move on to more complex drop-thumbing and melodic styles. I can also show students how to play in the enormous variety of banjo tunings used by traditional mountain players.

CONTACT for available times AT 1-607-387-6630 or e-mail at info@harmonic-resources.com