I came to Sam after being self-taught for a few months, but still very new to playing guitar. Sam is local to Cambridge - about halfway between Central Square and Harvard Square, walkable from either Red Line stop. Being self-taught to start, I wasn't sure what to expect of lessons. I was instantly put at ease when I saw Sam's teaching space: colorfully painted, barnyard-themed (parts of it, at least), equal parts shrine to guitar and a display of Sam's unique personal style. Did I mention Darla the Cow, Sam's six-foot fiberglass pet?
Sam's teaching style is a mix of whimsy, technical mastery and artistry. One moment we could be talking about the mixolydian mode, the next moment talking about the proper way to hold your fingers on the fretboard when playing a certain scale, straight into which types chords sound the most "orcish." He is very easy-going, but don't be fooled - his 40+ years of playing guitar have made him a master. The man knows it all - how to hold it, how to play it, how to care for it, how to make them cry or sing. His love for the stuff is infectious, and makes it very easy to learn. The guy is a ton of fun, and obviously loves sharing the guitar with people. The lesson always flies by.
What I get most out of my time with Sam is not necessarily the technical here's-how-you-do-this type stuff (though there is plenty of that), it's the conversations we'll have through the lesson. It's those off-the-cuff statements and observations that stick with you for a while afterwards - why a certain progression is interesting or unique, or how a certain song has no dead air in it, how a riff changes slightly throughout the song. Those things - clearly the results of a lifetime study of music - are the things I find myself coming back to the most, and are the types of things you can't learn elsewhere.
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