I have been notoriously nervous of the process of learning a string instrument, and how to jam with others, until David came into my life. Before I knew it, like in five minutes, I was playing the ukulele with him on the piano, I was jamming! This was so gratifying for me. He created a safe and playful atmosphere for me to come out of my musical shell and have fun, take risks, and learn something new. Playing and learning from him allowed me to bring out my flute. This was a big deal for me because in the past my classical flute was very structured and formal. With David, I was gifted the freedom to throw the formality out the window and jam, get funky with it. And boy did that feel good! The anxiety of trying to get every note or rhythm correct was replaced with the joy of a positive learning experience. David not only successfully helps a person learn how to play musical instruments but inspires a body to create one’s own music. This I find to be a rare and crucial element in a teacher. David is an amazing teacher. He connects the heart and the brain, settling the body, giving an example of freedom to play.

David teaches acoustic and electric guitar to our 13 year old daughter. He is a patient, flexible and intuitive teacher. He teaches by letting her pick the songs she wants to play and then molding the lessons within that song. His range of music knowledge is impressive and if he has never heard a song, he will listen once and jump right in to teaching it. My daughter really likes him, she looks forward to her lessons and is motivated to practice. In 3 months, she is playing songs already. I am impressed!

I have been very happy with the banjo lessons with David. He makes learning fun and makes me feel comfortable playing in front of him. I have never taken banjo lessons before and thought I might be making a mistake. He has given me a new hobby that I have learned to love. I never thought I would get this far and it has only been 7 months. I highly recommend him

Id recommend David to any aspiring musician, regardless of skill level or experience. Before this year, Id never taken a music lesson. After only a lesson or two, I had learned enough to play a few songs which immediately got me more inspired to go back and learn more. Ive been going weekly for the last month and a half and have been told that my progress has been more than noticeable. While improvement is largely based on the time you put in alone, David has done a great job giving me several exercises and notes to practice. Since Im still a beginner, its been helpful that hes been able to stress the basics and build a foundation that I can use to fall back on and begin to teach myself with.

David is quite amazing. He teaches my son ukulele and keeps him connected to our culture. We are from Hawaii and always miss hearing the ukulele! David teaches my son with patience (my son is always full of energy) and fun. It is the perfect mixture of play and learning. My son is 7 and Davids special talent is appealing to my sons tastes. After practicing, David always adds an extra fun learning material---like jamming to Super Mario Bros theme song. He has an amazing talent for listening to a song, and being able to play it. I really like how hes getting my son to listen to the notes in a song, then asks him what he thinks the note it is. My son cant wait to see him every week, and after each session, asks why it was so short. I have other music teachers that thought teaching a 7 year old boy was a risk because of attention span. Ive even been discouraged to have him play longer than 30 minutes. David is just that good! My son never wants him to leave! David is always open to my suggestions. If I ask him to do something differently with my son, like a chord review instead of their normal song learning process, he is always willing. The session doesnt start with going through a book, but he asks my son what song does he want to learn. David teaches him the song and writes the chords for him. I know its challenging a bit for my son, but it keeps it interesting and its training him to listen with his ear. It also becomes fun for my son and encourages him to play music because he is having fun, not because I want him to do it. David is not only a great teacher, but he is a good person. I have loved getting to know his world class experiences in music like jammin in New Orleans. Thanks David for all your hard work!