Brian Stone – Classical Guitar Instruction

Last year I decided to learn classical guitar, but I wanted to do it the right way, with a proper teacher. In a little less than one year, I went from not being able to play guitar at all, to preparing for a recital this coming January!
Brian is a patient teacher, is careful to keep you from developing bad playing habits, and is genuinely motivated to see you succeed in your musical path.

Brain is a first-​rate teacher: knowledgeable, patient, and fully capable to adapting his approach to the capabilities, age, and personal goals of his students. I highly recommend him to anyone wanting to begin or continue with studying classical guitar.

I have played guitar since high school, but I’ve always been a sloppy, casual player so that’s why I wanted lessons, and it has worked out great. Finally getting a solid technical foundation as well as learning more about music theory, which I before really didn’t grasp all that well, has done a lot for my playing and given me great insight into my own musicianship.
I have taken lessons with Brian for about two months and it has been great! The first couple of lessons he was abroad so a friend of his, Adrian, was the replacement tutor and that worked out very smoothly and well.
Brian is dedicated and cheering and is good at explaining, and me being a very inquisitive type, I have a lot of questions. He creates a relaxed atmosphere and it feels great to have a knowledgeable teacher that understands how you are supposed to teach out these things, and how to cheer on and motivate students.
I have also had a very busy schedule here in SF and Brian has been very accommodating, despite me and my busy schedule!
Also a good amount of homework that weren’t mindless and boring and quickly started playing pieces that were interesting.
My lessons with Brian have done a lot for me and I’m definitely not going to stop taking classical guitar lessons now! Recommended!

Brian is a great teacher, here’s why…
I’ve been playing guitar for about 16 years with a background in blues and rock mostly. I considered myself to be a pretty good player but I had hit a rut and felt like I hadn’t developed as a guitarist in some time. About a year ago I was listening to some recordings of Bach pieces on guitar and said to myself «I need to learn this.» So I found Brian online and called him up.
My playing has improved immensely since studying with Brian. Not only can I now sight read standard notation, but he helped me look at every aspect of guitar playing in a new light, from the way you hold the instrument, to the way the tendons and muscles in your hand work. I also learned a good deal about classical music history and music theory. I would recommend Brian to any guitarist who is interested in expanding their repertoire and improving their skills.

Before starting lessons with Brian, I had played guitar but had no
experience with classical, no ability to sight read, and little
knowledge of theory. In less than 6 months (is that time frame right?)
I was sight reading, improving my knowledge of music theory, and most
importantly playing beautiful classical music. My goal when starting
with Brian was to prepare myself for classical guitar school
auditions, and thanks to him I was accepted as a junior in the
Bachelor of Music performance program at SJSU. The school even gave me
one of 30 special admission slots reserved for top music applicants,
without which I would not have made it into the school. Since he has
extensive experience as a guitarist in an academic environment, he
knew exactly where I needed to be to be accepted into a music program.
In addition to this, he has an intuitive ability to find exactly how a
guitarist can improve, along with the patience and enthusiasm to make
sure they succeed. While there were many guitar instructors closer to
me I made an hour commute into San Francisco to take lessons from
Brian for many reasons, but most importantly because while many
instructors made me feel like a customer and some even made me feel
stupid, Brian made me feel like a friend.”