Drew Decker

Awesome guitar teacher! Drew has given me the confidence to build on improvisational skills. Learning while playing music was my goal, and that is exactly how my lessons have been structured. Focusing on blues right now and enjoying each lesson immensely!

I am brand new to playing a musical instrument. I bought my guitar in June and tinkered around on my own for 2 months watching YouTube videos to get the most basic basics down. I went to an open house at the New Expressions music store in my neighborhood to get some picks, and on a whim I entered the raffle they were having. I don’t normally win things, I don’t consider myself lucky in that way, which is why I don’t gamble or do scratch offs or anything. But wouldn’t you know it, I won a free guitar lesson with Drew Decker!
Winning the lesson with Drew was serendipitous. We hit it off immediately. I have always been the kind of student who laughs at all the teacher’s jokes and enjoys being taught new things, so it felt very natural to be having a good time while learning. I could tell right away that having lessons would keep me more motivated and accountable for practicing regularly, and I liked his teaching style so much that I signed up for more lessons the next day.
Drew answers all my questions (even when they seem silly to me) and caters the lessons to things I want to learn, and things that will keep me most excited about practicing often. He is always encouraging me to seek out friends who play an instrument so I can play with them. (Still looking!)
Last week was very stressful for me, and when I went to my lesson I told Drew «I had such a crappy week, I don’t even feel like playing my guitar! Its THAT bad!» (Because generally, I LOVE practicing guitar and look forward to my lesson.) Drew made the lesson fun and easy, kept me laughing the whole time, and he get me practicing a little too. Having Drew as a guitar teacher, for me, is about more than learning the guitar. Its really awesome to have this little half hour snippet of my week when nothing else really matters and I can just have fun. Its like medicine. I always feel great when I leave my lesson.
Ultimately, if you are new to guitar, I can’t recommend Drew highly enough. Drew is professional, calm and mellow and a very easy person to be around. His whole vibe is very relaxed, and even though he is an amazingly accomplished and talented musician, and I am a total newb, he makes me feel comfortable enough to play along with him. He is a really good teacher, but more importantly to me, Drew is a really good person.

I found Drew on Unilocal!and have been taking lessons for several months so far. I continue going to Drew for lessons because he is very patient and I feel that he really listens to my needs and requests and tailors my lessons accordingly. Prior to starting with Drew, my guitar felt like a foreign object, but now it is feeling more like an old friend. I recommend Drew any time that I get the chance.

I had been playing bass guitar for 40 years completely by ear and had played in a reasonably successful rock and roll band in the 1979 – 1982 timeframe. That band has recently got back together and we write our own material. In Jan 2010, I started taking bass lessons from Drew so I could contribute more to the songwriting process. Wow, what a difference some training can make. My playing has improved drastically — my bandmates have noticed and complemented me on it. Drew not only knows his stuff musically (very much so), he’s also an excellent teacher. He realizes that different students use different approaches to learning. He’ll figure you out and apply an optimum approach for you. I look forward to my lessons with Drew. It’s always one of the high points of my week. The sense of accomplishment that comes from making progress in your playing ability is priceless. Drew appreciates that and knows how to point you in the right direction. All you have to do is practice. :-) I highly recommend Drew Decker for bass and guitar lessons. Five Stars!

Drew is awesome. I’ve been taking lessons for a few months. I have a musical background, but never played the guitar before. He doesn’t use the Hal Leonard guitar method or anything like that. His goal with adults is to get them playing actual songs as soon as possible. So he has a big box of songs, like «Dust in the Wind», or «Alice’s Restaurant». After I’d been playing about a month, I was playing «House of the Rising Sun.» Slowly, but I was really playing it. He also takes requests, and will use the last few minutes of the lesson to create an arrangement of the song that you want to play. I’m learning to play, and having fun at the same time. What could be better?

Drew is an excellent teacher. I have been taking bass and guitar from him for over two years now. He works with the type of music you want to play, has great pacing, and introduces theory at the appropriate times. He is professional, patient, and has a great studio set up at Old Time Music.
I am a much better player and musician for the lessons with Drew. I also know of other musicians from totally different genres who have had positive experieces, and started gigging soon after taking lesssons.