Guitar Lessons with Jason:
- In person guitar lessons in Santa Cruz County
- Electric or acoustic guitar
- Beginner to intermediate level students of all ages welcome
- Learn at your own pace, lessons tailored to where you are at
Categories of learning:
- Understanding the instrument
- Technique
- Practice
- Music Theory
- Playing with Others
- Personal Progress / Leveling up from Plateau
- Songwriting / Recording
I can help you get to know the guitar and understand it well enough to be able to play with others in band or jam session settings.
About Jason
My specialties include a healthy combination of fun and discipline, learning and exploring the guitar in a creative way, playing with others (jam sessions, band situations), getting out of musical ruts, and thoroughly enjoying playing music.
I started playing guitar in 1988 when my dad bought me my first guitar for my 12th birthday. Immediately I started taking lessons at McCabe’s guitar shop in Los Angeles and took guitar lessons with several teachers for the first 4 years of my playing. Notable teachers I took lessons from include Warren Klein (Fraternity of Man) and Ted Greene (author of Chord Chemistry).
I joined a band my first year into playing guitar and continued to play in bands through middle school, high school, college, all the way up to the present. I also have participated in countless jam sessions with many different people over the decades. My current band is called Arcane Lullaby where I write all the music and lyrics as well as play all the guitars. On the albums I have also played the bass guitar parts. You can listen to Arcane Lullaby on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Pandora, YouTube, etc. We currently have two albums with a third one likely to release at the beginning of 2026.
Early on in my guitar playing Warren Klein convinced me to learn finger picking and I abandoned the guitar pick for using my fingers only. Although I know all the notes on the guitar, music theory, chords, scales, etc., I am not proficient in reading music. I did learn to read music in high school when I took piano and clarinet classes but I did not keep that up and in the guitar world many expert players are not sight readers. I do read guitar tablature however which is important for guitarists to know and can teach that to anyone who does not already know. If you are looking for someone to teach you sight reading of music notation or classical training I am not going to be a good match for you. However if you want to learn enough about guitar and music theory to be able to play along with anyone in any musical situation, and improvise appropriately and confidently, or to get out of a musical rut, or expand your musical experience in a joyful way, or just learn guitar from the beginning and learn how to learn on your own as well, then I may be a great fit for you.
Lesson Pricing
In person lessons with me in Aptos:
$40 for 30 minutes
$50 for 1 hour
$75 for 1.5 hours
$100 for 2 hours
In person lessons at your home are available for an additional fee depending on your specific location based on additional round trip travel time.
I accept payment via: CashApp, Venmo, Paypal, or Cash.
To get the most out of your lessons please practice between your in-person lessons, and take lessons regularly - whether that is once per week or once per month. Playing guitar regularly is crucial for making progress. Beginners have a unique challenge with developing their calluses so playing every day is important. Even long-time players can lose their calluses if they don’t play regularly. But playing guitar is so fun that it is not difficult to want to play it at least for a few minutes every day. And it becomes more fun the more you play.
Subjects Outline
The outline below is not necessarily a linear path. There is jumping around from category to category as needed. And depending on your own level or needs you may not want to or need to cover all the areas below. If you know that you just want to focus on one of these areas just let me know. I can cater your lessons to what you want.
1 – Understanding the instrument
- Tuning
- Guitar anatomy
- Memorizing all the notes
2 - Technique
- Fingering right hand + Hammer-on, pull-off, trill, slide, bend, etc. Boxes, one finger per fret.
- Plucking and strumming with left hand
- Single notes
- Chords
- Rhythm guitar
- Lead guitar / solos
- Triads
- Scales / Modes
- Arpeggios
3 – Practice
- Learning how to read tablature (TABs)
- Learning how to read chord diagrams and charts
- Learning and playing songs
- Playing regularly just messing around / noodling / experimenting
- Practicing scales in all the positions / patterns / shapes – scales straight, 3 pattern, 4 pattern up and down.
- Practicing chords in all the positions / patterns / shapes
- Practicing with a metronome / drumbeat
- Integrating theory with practice – learning to learn – learn on your own as well – you can have many teachers
- Practicing interval ear training with singing and playing
4 – Music Theory
- Learning all about intervals
- Learning all the modes and how they relate to intervals
- Understanding keys, chord changes
- Ear training
- Using understanding of intervals to break out of boxes
5 – Playing with others
- Listening training
- Practicing with a metronome or to a beat at home even when noodling
- Humility, patience, generosity, confidence
- Playful, non judgmental, learning from mistakes, working with mistakes
- Keys, chord changes, modes, time signatures, feel, relaxing and enjoying all at the same time.
- Letting it all go and merge feeling with listening to serve the music
- Jam sessions / Improvising
- Band practices
6 – Personal Progress / Leveling up from Plateau
- Listen to and learn songs/music from different genres
- Mix up your practice regime learning new techniques from books
- Intentionally push your boundaries when noodling at home – be daring and adventurous
- Guitar meditation / getting into a blissful trance while playing / feeling fulfillment
7 – Songwriting
- Active creation vs being a vessel (don’t force it)
- Play your guitar a lot just messing around with no expectations. Many great riffs come from not thinking but just playing, feeling and having fun.
- Song structure, Piecing together riffs, chords, melodies, lyrics.
- Sketching it out, revisions, refinement
- Recording
Contact Form:
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