General Answers For Intermediates & Above

Who are you anyways? I want to make sure you're a real person.

I’m Dave Wirth. I’m a lifetime musician, educator of 20 years, award-winning film composer, critically-acclaimed music producer, and lover of dogs everywhere.

You might see me at yoga classes, wandering around book stores, or hanging out at ridiculously good coffee shops.

I’m stuck in a rut playing pentatonic licks. Can you help me?

Does this sound like you:

You know one or two pentatonic scales. You have a small library of licks to use in and around that scale.

And, you’re bored to death playing that same scale and your same library of licks, over and over again.

Did I nail it?

Perhaps at one time you felt free and awesome playing that scale. Not anymore. You need something new to play.

Luckily, you can learn new soloing concepts that complement your pentatonic licks.

Things like arpeggios. Things like the blues or swing scales. Things like legato playing. Things like Jimi Hendrix rhythm guitar.

You can even learn to play well-known guitar solos BUT make it sound like you created them.

But, what to work on? What’s the best approach? And is there any guarantee that what you go after will make you feel free?

What will give a 1000% return in your investment into guitar lessons?

That’s where we collaborate and find the best route forward. That’s where we figure out the path that excites you the most!

We’ll figure out how to take those tired old pentatonic licks and turn them into amazing foundations of guitar freedom.

Best of all? If you try a month’s worth of lessons and don’t like them, I’ll refund you entirely.

You’ll love these lessons. I stand by my word.

How will you help me play beyond just one area of the fretboard?

I know how it feels to be locked in one spot of the guitar.

You must be tired of playing the same stuff, the same way, every time you pick up a guitar.

You might even get intimidated with how to get beyond that one spot on the guitar.

But, what if you could take up the total real estate of the guitar neck?

What if it took you way less time to learn how?

What if it were way easier to do that you expected?

I am prepared to help you play beyond one area of the fretboard. After all, I have helped many hundreds of intermediates before.

I’ve helped people extend scales beyond one position into three or more. I’ve helped them learn arpeggios that move all over the neck of the guitar. I’ve helped a few learn how to do really fast three octave scales.

You’ll be amazed to see yourself playing everywhere on the guitar.

Better yet, it’ll take you a fraction of the amount of time than it would taking guitar lessons from another teacher.

Do you get impatient with students?

I had a teacher in 5th grade who got angry with me for not seeing the blackboard clearly.

I sat in the back of the class. Everything on that black board looked blurry.

Clearly, I needed glasses.

Usually, when a teacher gets impatient with a student, it signals a lack of understanding. It also signals a lack of empathy.

And further, it signals a lack of ability on the part of the teacher.

My job is to communicate, first and foremost. If you and I are on the same page, there’s no doubt we can do good work together.

My second job is to smooth the way forward for you as a guitarist. I have taught about 600 students in my career as a guitar coach. I’ve refined my approach over close to two decades of teaching.

Therefore, I have both the skills to teach you as well as the communication skills to understand where you are.

Short answer: No. I don’t get impatient with students!

Will you ever get tired of questions? Have you ever yelled at a student?

You want a patient teacher, I get it.

You probably understand that teachers are authority figures.

Why should you put up with a jerk just to learn guitar? That’s terrible. That’s a waste of your time.

And, you’ve got better things to do.

I don’t get tired of answering questions. I love questions. Bring them on.

Since I started teaching guitar in 2006, I have NEVER yelled at any student. I prefer tactful communication. I prefer learning about the person sitting in front of me.

I prefer empathy over reaction.

Do you motivate with positivity or negativity?

I once had a professor tell me to stand up in the middle of a crowded classroom.

He said, “Dave, you’re gonna hate me now but you will thank me in 20 years. What are the notes in an Ab Fully Altered scale?”

I couldn’t do it. He knew I couldn’t do it. He sought to motivate me by embarrassing me.

He failed, miserably. He killed my enthusiasm. I shut off my mind to just about everything he taught after that moment. 20 years later, if I ran into him, I’d definitely let him know how little I appreciated what he did.

I am motivated by positivity. I like getting positive feedback that’s meaningful.

I assume you are the same as me: You like collaborating with good people.

You can count on positivity from me, the entire time we work together.

If I learn from you, do I have to put up with other guitar teachers teaching next door, like at Guitar Center?

You won't have to put up with other guitar teachers teaching next door. No.

Nor will there be poor lighting, trash. or weird smells. No uncomfortable chairs, no soul-sucking atmospheres.

My film composing studio is different. It’s set up for vibe. Good lighting. Comfortable chairs. Clean space. Inspiring atmosphere. This is where your music comes to life.

I think you’ll be inspired here!

Are you a big/box music store that’s just trying to stuff as many students into lessons as possible?

No.

Big box music stores have a clear financial interest in stuffing you into lessons. It’s easy to buy a guitar and take lessons in the same place. It’s really hard to find a decent teacher there.

Learning requires trust, and that’s hard to build in a room full of shredding guitarists with loud amps.

Trust is important to me. I want this to be a good place to learn. I’ve deliberately structured my lessons to be worthy of your trust.

From arrival to jamming, this is about your experience.

Please tell me you won’t treat me like an idiot…

I will never, ever treat you like an idiot. Ever.

You and I know what it feels like to be treated as one, too.

It probably makes you feel terrible. It probably ruins your day. The sting of it might even last up to a week.

It makes me boil inside!

You don’t deserve to be treated like an idiot if you have a question. No matter how silly you think your question is, you are free to ask me.

And you’ll receive a tactful, kind, and decent answer that satisfies your curiosity.

Will I get personal service?

You already know how much it sucks when the only people you can ask for help don’t care about you.

That’s basically what you get in most guitar stores. Especially the big ones.

It must bewilder someone to walk into a big guitar store. All those competing sounds, five guitarists with amps turned up super loud, all playing different things, ten different conversations, getting sonically pulled in a million different directions.

And when the time comes for you to ask an employee a question? Chances are Slim-to-none that you’ll get a thoughtful answer.

If you work with me. I give you my undivided attention. My phone is shut off. I won’t check emails, texts, or any notifications.

Every single question you ask me has a 99.99% chance of getting answered thoughtfully, tactfully, consciously, and in the most kind manner possible.

Will you treat me as “just another money bag” like at Guitar Center?

I've seen guitar store employees fall prey to the autopilot syndrome. They assume they don't need to help anyone. More people always come through the door. So they see people as paychecks. Yuck.

I'm grateful for every single person I work with. I appreciate students brave enough to admit they don't know everything. If you want to learn from me, I'll pull out all the stops. How can I not honor you by going the extra mile, every single week?

If you and I connect, you’ll find out I care a great deal about the quality of my lessons.