+ (1) How much do you charge?
Click
here for the rate and pricing info
+ (2) What is your availability?
I teach 7 days a week, 9 am to 10 pm. On Friday I only teach till 1 pm to keep my lovely wife happy. 🙂
+ (3) Where is your studio located?
19913 Egret Pl, Santa Clarita, CA 91351
Take the I-5 north, then the CA-14 north. Take exit 6A for Sierra Hwy towards Canyon Country. I’m 3 min away from that exit. L on Sierra, R on Via Princessa, L on Rainbow Glen Dr. Park on Rainbow Glen drive. I’m L on Egret, on the corner of Egret and Rainbow Glen Dr. About 25-30min north of Hollywood.
+ (4) How is parking there?
Parking is really easy.
There is plenty of open street parking on a 5-10-second walk from my studio. No hassle, no long walks, no parking permits.
You park, and you walk into the teaching studio. Easy!
+ (5) How do I schedule a lesson?
You can email me at
vreny@zotzinmusic.com or call 310-902-0993 to set up your lesson time. Right after we set up your time, go
here and buy your lesson. This will ensure your preferred lesson time is set in stone so nobody else can take that time anymore. PayPal notifies me of your payment instantly. As long as your lesson payment has not been received, your time is up for anybody who books and pays for it first.
+ (6) Do you offer a free trial lesson?
No free trial lessons.
I value your talent and education very highly. As such: I am always careful not to waste your time and talent, and I thus always dive right away into delivering you the top-quality lesson and amazing progress you deserve to get from the very start. A teacher who feels like he is working hard and sharing his talent and expertise for no return is never going to give you his best work.
+ (7) How long are the classes?
Lessons are 1 hour long.I also offer 30-minute lessons
+ (8) I have an erratic work schedule. What if I cannot meet regular times?
The beauty of private instruction is that we can work around your schedule. We meet whenever works for you. If you prefer having a weekly lesson at a regular reoccurring time, we can make that work… and if you rather go on a week to week basis or whenever your schedule allows, that is totally doable too.
+ (9) Do you teach half-hour lessons?
You get a lot more bang for your buck when you have 1-hour lessons. All my students are always surprised how very quickly an hour passes by. However: Yes, I am offering half-hour lessons for people who prefer 1/2 lessons for various reasons, or for kids who might not have the attention span to focus for a full hour.
+ (10) Do you do house call lessons?
I used to, many years ago at the beginning of my teaching career. Pretty soon it became clear to me how much more slowly students progress who have the lesson in their house. You get a lot more bang for your buck when you learn guitar in a professional teaching studio. A lesson taught at home is never of the same high lesson quality and standards as a lesson that is taught in a professionally set up teaching studio, where the instructor has all his lesson materials, books, software, computers, and a high-quality speaker system available to do his job.
+ (11) What levels do you teach?
All levels from complete beginner, to intermediate, to highly advanced.
I have people showing up for their first lesson who have no idea how to hold a guitar, let alone tune it and I have students who have been with me for a long time, who have been playing for many decades, are at an exceptional musical level, but who keep coming because they love their lessons too much to stop.
+ (12) Do you teach kids?
Our youngest students are 14.
+ (13) How long have you been playing and teaching
Playing: 34 years; teaching: 28 (updated in 2021)
+ (14) Why do your students progress so much more quickly?
For the answer,
click here + (15) How quickly will I progress if I practice an hour a day?
No teacher can really predict that accurately because there are too many variables involved. Always keep in mind that learning music is all about the journey, not about the final destination. There will never be a final destination. Your horizon will keep moving ahead as you keep moving ahead. You will progress quickly if you practice smart and focused. (My students are guided in how to practice, for maximum results). If you really want a tangible answer: I would say that you could master 3 to 4 songs note for note in 1 week, if you practice an hour a day, exactly as explained. (and I am not talking about simple strumming folk songs here, but songs with actual guitar parts like Smoke On The Water for example).
+ (16) Do you offer Gift Certificates?
Yes,
click here to surprise a loved one with a gift certificate.
+ (17) Do you offer special or package discount deals?
Yes,
click here to find out more about rates and pricing.
+ (18) Should I bring an amp?
No need for you to go through that hassle. This is a professional teaching studio with tons of amplifiers, cables, pedalboards, and guitar effects, all provided for you to use here.
+ (19) How often should I meet for lessons?
For best results, nothing can beat meeting weekly. However; if that is not doable, think of it this way: meeting irregularly for lessons, is still much better than not having any lessons at all. Could you meet more? Yes, but you will find out that I give more than enough in 1 lesson, to keep you busy for an entire week. Meeting more than once a week might be overkill.
+ (20) Am I spoiling myself too much by learning from the best as a beginner?
I teach all levels and all styles, so I think you can never be spoiled enough when it comes to your right to get the educational level you deserve.
+ (21) Should I learn on an acoustic or electric?
Either way is fine. Whatever guitar you prefer playing on, is the one you should bring to your lessons.
+ (22) Is it true that if you can play classical or jazz, you can play everything?
Not true.
Every style has its own specific needs and energies, and it is not because you can play complicated jazz lines and improvisations, that therefore you can also rock out like a rock guitarist.
+ (23) Can you teach me specific songs or styles I would like to learn?
Yes. Your lessons are custom designed to whatever it is you would like to learn. If you have specific songs you would like to learn, it takes me only a minute to figure out all the guitar parts to an entire song.
+ (24) I can't read music, should I learn this?
Not necessary. Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles… I could go on forever, naming bands and amazing musicians who don’t know how to read music. I only teach reading music on guitar if you would really like to learn that, or if you have the intention to become a classical, a professional session, or a jazz guitarist.
+ (25) What is your favorite style of music? What do you like playing?
I love playing every style of music really, ranging from classical guitar to jazz, to everything in between blues, reggae, funk, rock styles, metal, and everything you can think of. However: the style of music I am totally in love with myself and that I write in most of the time is a mixture of classic, symphonic, and progressive rock with the occasional jazz-rock/fusion influence.
