Lessons
We are very proud of our teaching staff and our facilities. We
offer private one-on-one lessons in air conditioned, studios. We
have a comfortable waiting area for parents and others.
The cost for lessons is $25.00 per week. You receive a half hour
private lesson tailored to your needs and desires. From "Fun
approach" to dedicated study, we attempt to fulfill your needs.
Each member of our teaching staff can help beginning to advanced
players understand and master a variety of guitar styles.
Our Teaching Staff
John Heussenstamm
John has been teaching guitar for over 30 years. His specialties
are jazz, blues, and modern fusion styles*. Since his days as the
original "Johny Malibu" in the Surf Punks, he has toured with
Denise Williams, Jackie Lomax, and with his own band. He continues
to play many blues festivals. John’s latest CD "Light Touch", a
live jazz performance should be available this summer.
Bob Hawkins
Bob has been teaching guitar for over 35 years. His musical styles
include folk, rock, jazz and other pop styles. He has performed
since 1971. He has opened for Bonnie Rait, Los Lobos, Kenny Rankin,
Spirit, and Lonnie Walk. He currently plays lead guitar and sings
back-up vocals with the Missles of October, Sunday afternoons at
the Marine Room in Laguna Beach. Bob’s newest CD "The Tropic of
Soul Folk" is available at Sound Spectrum and The Guitar Shoppe,
both located in Laguna Beach.
Randy Rusk
Randy had been teaching guitar for over 35 years; the last 30 at
The Guitar Shoppe and the most recent 25 at Saddleback College as
well. He has a B.A. in Music Composition from UCI. Randy has opened
for America, Poco and others. He teaches all styles of guitar,
although his specialty is fingerstyle as played by such greats as:
Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed, and John Knowles. Randy has written an
inspired guitar method book titled "The Key". It is available from
The Guitar Shoppe.
Will Brady
Will has been a full-time working musician for “over 100
years”, 25 of which have been spent here in Laguna Beach. He
specializes in blues. Will is a Pro member of the National Academy
of Songwriters and B.M.I. He has opened for many artists among them
are David Wilcox, Leon Russel, The Beach Boys, Loggins & Messina,
Linda Ronstat, Santana, Chicago, Jackson Browne, Van Halen and many
more.Will has spent the last 5 years as a solo performer and has
produced 3 CD’s; "Next Door to The Blues", "Caveman Brain" and his
latest all instrumental solo acoustic "BOXWORK", available at The
Guitar Shoppe or direct from Will at
www.willbrady.com.
Greg Coleman
Greg will always be missed. Greg passed away September 16th, 2005
following a valiant battle with cancer. He stretched a “3-month
prognosis” into two years. Beside being an accomplished mountain
climber and wilderness hiker, Greg taught classical and flamenco
guitar for over 40 years. He studied with Pepe Romero, Fredrick
Noad and Joe Pass. Greg has 3 recently published books of
fingerstyle arrangements put out by Warner Brothers. The books’
titles are "Movie Themes", "Great Standards", and "The Official
Star Wars Song Book". On April 11th 2006, Greg was posthumously
awarded his hard-earned Master’s Degree in Music from the
University of California.
David Cross
Dave has enjoyed over 40 years as a teacher and professional
musician. Dave is the leader (in theory , anyway) of a musical
family - his lovely wife Sue plays all styles of bass guitar
including the upright bass and son Nate plays bass and also teaches
here at The Guitar Shoppe. Dave attributes his silver hair not to
age at all, but rather to a busy schedule that includes over 200
club dates this year. The latest of his 3 CD’s is titled "Simple".
It is available at Tower Records and The Guitar Shoppe. Visit
davecross.net for more.
Peter Dobson
Peter is a prolific composer, recording artist, and record
producer. An Oxford graduate and BBC composer, he began his
recording career at Abbey Road for George Martin’s AIR label. His
touring and recording bio includes such artists as The Crusaders,
The Soul Train Band, The Wailers, The International Reggae
Allstars, and Taj Majal’s Phantom Blues Band. Peter’s students
keep his ear open to the ever evolving diversity of musical styles.
In return he respects the goal each student sets, be it
professional, academic, recreational.
Ed Krajec
Ed is our resident rock guitarist. He’s been playing guitar for 23
years and specializes in classic rock, heavy metal, and blues. He
played the Hollywood strip for 10 years while landing a record deal
with Capitol Records “Armed Forces”. Ed currently plays solo
acoustic guitar at local art shows as well as many band gigs in
Southern California area. His favorite saying is remember to “have
fun” while you learn.
Ben Wagner
Ben started his guitar career at the age of 10 at the Guitar
Shoppe, and has studied many styles of guitar under Peter Dobson
and Dave Cross. Being obsessed with Blues starting at a young age,
he’s shared the stage with Blues Masters, Dewey Terry, Henry
Butler, Leo Nocentelli and Steve Froehn. Ben now performs
throughout the southland and teaches the styles of blues, rock,
country, reggae, folk and finger style.
Gabe Rosales
With over 14 years experience in bass and guitar playing, song
writing, touring, and producing, Gabe has come to work with many
big name in the industry. Including guitar virtuosos George Lynch
and Prashant Aswani, pop-stars Jennifer Lopez, Sheena Easton, and
Christina Milian as well as many others. Not only is he a
accomplished player, Gabe is a dedicated teacher. We our proud to
have Gabe on our staff of teachers.
Alex Bodrero
Alex had been playing guitar professionally for ten years. in
addition to his studies at The Guitar Shoppe he has achievement
awards from Berkeley and UCI for his participation in music and
performing arts program. He is currently enrolled at Orange Coast
College majoring in music. Alex teaches beginners of all ages the
fundamentals of guitar and gets them having fun with their
instrument learning songs, technique and basic theory.
Mark Sproull
We also offer a large selection of books, tapes, CD’s and videos
to enhance the lessons or self-taught approach.
Regimen:
Lessons are given Monday through Saturday, late morning
to early evening. Instructors require 24 hour notice to avoid charging
for canceled or missed appointments. Please make lesson payments
directly to the instructors. Monthly payments are appreciated and
encouraged. Metered parking is available on the highway and side
streets. Please do not park in the lighting store lot.
We also offer a large selection
of books, tapes, CD’s and videos
to enhance the lessons or self-taught approach.
Top
