Donte J.

Hi, my name is Donte and I am a musician from the NJ/NYC area. I have been a student of music for more than 10 years. My musical influences include J-pop artist LiSA and rock group Breaking Benjamin. I also enjoy Final Fantasy original soundtracks and Nujabes. My teaching style can best be described as teaching with exuberant energy and a solid passion for gifting knowledge to learners. I believe in an amusing and easygoing environment where learners feel free to understand concepts at their own pace while being motivated to reach their goals. It's important to me that everyone has fun while learning. My teaching philosophy can best be described as a blend of strong pedagogical music theory fundamentals paired with an acute intuition of the interplay between emotion and music. Due to this, my philosophy best revolves around my students learning guitar using the songs they love as a compass to musical competence. I really love getting to know my learners and crafting my lessons around their unique needs. I believe in gifting learners with the tools to step into their confidence through expressing their hearts with music. In my lessons, you can expect to learn music theory, music composition, and overall guitar competence. I like to tell my students anything is possible to achieve if they put their heart, mind and soul into it. My favorite thing about teaching is building a connection with my students and watching them glow in the confidence that they've cultivated through expressing themselves musically. My favorite performance was a Japanese rock show in Jersey City I played with my band, Code Crimson and other Japanese rock influenced bands. My students love that I bring enthusiastic and warm energy to sessions that encourages them to not only reach their goals but surpass their limits. I primarily teach music theory, but I can also teach music composition. My approach as a teacher is to believe in the power of empathy, fun and a steadfast attitude in going after what you want, both in life and as a music instructor. Thanks for taking a look at my profile. Hope to meet you soon!