Ken Brown Guitar Studio

About Ken Brown Guitar Studio

I teach guitar privately in my studio in Menlo Park, and worldwide online via Skype and a great webcam.

Okay, so you think you'd like to learn how to play the guitar. Now what? You'll need a guitar, of course - either your own or a "loaner." And you'll need perhaps a method book. And you'll need an instructor. That's where I come in. I'd like to tell you about myself.

I've been teaching, composing, playing and writing about guitar for more than forty years, right here on the Peninsula. My teaching goal is to provide the student with a wide range of materials and opportunities, so as to enable him or her to develop whatever interests come bubbling to the surface during the learning process.

I strive to teach the student independence as early as possible, weaning the student away from the typical "me teacher - you pupil" situation. My pupils become my valued friends, which is as it should be.

New ways of learning to read music on the guitar will have you learning the entire fingerboard in less time than it usually takes to learn notes in the first three frets.

Learning form and analysis of music for the classical guitarist will aid memory and interpretation, make learning new music faster.

I will turn you on to computer tools that provide rhythm sections to back up improvisational efforts.

Students will have available a large library of sheet music, method books, textbooks, records, CDs and videos of master guitarists like Segovia, Julian Bream, Joe Pass, Tal Farlow, and Lennie Breu, to name a few.

New concepts in learning music will accelerate your progress. I have a system for jazz that is astounding in it's ability to integrate the whole fingerboard into patterns that allow you to play what you hear.

Ken plays concerts, recitals and benefits throughout the area. He is available for bookings.

He taught guitar at Menlo College, where he also headed the guitar department.

Ken studied at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, San Francisco State.. He has also studied with some of the most influential and important guitarists of this century, including: classical: Segovia, Pepe Romero, Jorge Morel, Laurindo Almeida, Rey de la Torre; jazz: Joe Pass, Barney Kessel, Howard Roberts, Warren Nunes.

He composed music and performed for the ballet Impressions. He is also the author of Classical Studies for Guitar, (published by Belwin-Mills) and articles for Guitar International.