Guitar Lessons with Stephen Lochbaum:
-I hold a Doctoral degree in Music from the University of North Texas.
-I have lead University guitar programs in Canada and the US and have produced musicians performing all over the world.
-I have extensive experience competing Nationally and Internationally with a nice list of first prizes and have been a finalist dozens of times.
-I have performed thousands of times in a broad range of styles. While my specialty is classical guitar, I have performed early music, jazz, flamenco, tango, rock and have played with an immense group of musicians.
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Every student who enrolls in 4 lessons or more will receive a free textbook (PDF) written by myself and Dr. Bryan Burns. The book contains a full complement of technical exercises for the left and right hands, basics of improvisation, harmonization, solfege, cross-string ornaments, and supplementary repertoire including original transcriptions of SL Weiss. Over 200 pages of guitar goodness!!
As someone who started playing classical guitar late in life, I have a unique experience of achieving fast results in a short amount of time. When I first auditioned at University, I had never played any classical repertoire and could not even read music. By the time I finished my Master’s degree 6 years later, I had won the National Music Festival of Canada, had my CBC radio debut, and had even been invited to perform in a guitar quartet with Pepe Romero.
During this time, however, I over-practiced and developed an injury that put a stop to my classical performing activities for almost five years!
I tried everything under the sun at first but realized I would just need time to recover. I eventually developed a practice routine that leads to a very relaxed playing style and am able to pass it on to my students. I can firmly say that I have never had a student develop an injury while studying with me and am very proud of this.
While I was out of the classical world, I bought a low action, easy-to-play flamenco guitar and began to teach myself the basics of jazz and was soon performing all over Victoria, BC. From International Jazz and Tango festivals to spots on CBC radio 1,2, and 3, I racked up an impressive number of performances.
Learning jazz proved to be very helpful when I was studying the lute and learning how to play continuo at UNT. The harmonic awareness developed from both of these styles is something I strongly emphasize in my teaching. Even a beginner skillset in the area will allow you to read from piano scores and make effective arrangements in any style quickly.
Learning a basic set of jazz chords and some continuo will greatly improve your sight reading and open up a whole new world of available gigs. Many guitarists lack these skills even in big cities and they will enable you to dominate your gig market. If used alongside gratitude, grace, and humility, you will be an unstoppable force!