Chris

5 (4 reviews)

Rate $50
Response 1h
Students
Number of students Chris has taught since their arrival at Superprof
50+
Number of students Chris has taught since their arrival at Superprof

5 (4 reviews)

$50/h

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Piano

Experienced tutor in Piano in Spokane, Chris offers private lessons tailored to your needs.

Piano

Lesson location

- At Chris's house: Spokane
- online
- at your home or a public place : will travel up to 20 mi. from Spokane

About Chris

Chris Phelps has been teaching private lessons since 1992 and is currently available to teach lessons at his studio, your home, and online. Chris has helped students learn music they enjoy, write their own songs, and become successful enough to also teach guitar lessons full time. His former students have their original music on iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, and are even currently touring nationwide.

Chris received an A.A.S. in Commercial Music and Jazz Studies with a focus on guitar performance at SFCC in 1992, and BAs in Music Merchandising and Music Composition from EWU in 1996.

Chris's flexible, student focused teaching style keeps lessons exciting and fun while always building on small goals to reach long term success.

With over 25 years teaching experience, Chris looks forward to helping new students achieve their goals.

Seeing people’s eyes light up when they learn something new that they really wanted to learn, but didn’t think they could. Most of all I enjoy seeing my students achieve their goals with music and succeed. I know from experience it enriches every aspect of their lives. And I’ve definitely learned a lot of cool songs!

A friend heard me play and asked me to teach him. And then another asked. Eventually, I got a recommendation to teach a guitar class for the local Parks and Recreation department. Then I got a lot more students, and was able to go full time with what I love.

I have a Commercial Music/Jazz Studies Degree with a guitar performance focus from Spokane Falls Community College (SFCC), with honors. I attended Berklee School of Music Summer Session on a scholarship in 1994 for Guitar Performance and tested out of their guitar program. I have BA in Music Merchandising from Eastern Washington University (1996), with honors. I studied Composition at EWU at the post graduate level.

About the lesson

My teaching philosophy is student focused. I prefer to be flexible, and teach to the student’s needs rather than a rigid plan. I do have structured lessons that I have developed, and we can go to them when helpful. I have a large library of sheet music available, and a curriculum I developed for a local private school for more advanced students. Working on rhythms, chords, and progressions is recommended for all players at all levels. For those that prefer books, I have many favorite methods depending on which style you are interested in. I can sight read sheet music, so we can also use your favorite method. I have tests for those that prefer to move as quickly as possible. One of my favorite tricks is I have created small lists, or menus of songs that address specific needs. For example, when we need to learn a specific technique students can pick a favorite song from the list that addresses that specific problem. That speeds things up immensely.

We can be flexible, but I do have plans for us to draw from. The most important things are that your questions are answered quickly and efficiently, and that you have fun learning about music, and the guitar.

Preferred Methods: Best for Most Students - The National Guitar Workshop Method  Personal Favorite - The Berklee Method Classical - The Carcassi Method or The Parkening Method.

After over 25 years of teaching I've worked with all ages, skill levels, and many styles. Right now the youngest student I have is 5 years of age, and the oldest is over sixty. My favorite part of teaching is seeing my students succeed. Though it’s become a cliche, I have had many students with ADD and ADHD that guitar lessons have helped. My former students run open mics, and are members of many bands in Spokane, Seattle, and Colorado. We have an online community where we connect, set up jams, and share updates about our new songs and gigs. One of them just graduated from college with a guitar performance degree, and is now a fellow full-time guitar teacher. Some of my former student’s are currently recording and touring at the nationwide level. You can hear their work on Spotify, YouTube, and iTunes.

My main goal as a teacher is to help my students realize their long term goals for music, and it’s very rewarding to see it work long term. My experience has given me the perspective that everyone is different, and patience is the key to helping students reach their potential.

Things have to click. I've studied with a lot of teachers, and I've learned from teachers even when it didn't click. But when it does click, it's worth it. Be willing to meet people, and even take a few lessons to see if it's a good fit. Learn to read music , and study with teachers who do. That’s DEFINITELY worth it.

Recently I've been able to watch my students perform gigs. They are all grown up, and perform regularly. Watching them is pretty amazing. This summer three of them played concerts at The Bartlett, a local live music venue, in different bands, and that completely blew my mind. They are on Spotify, and YouTube. More than one of them is currently touring professionally. Honestly, that took a lot more than a decade to see completion, but it's been well worth it for all of us.

A few things worth thinking about before reaching out
What drew you to guitar in the first place?

What do you want to learn?

Who do you want to sound like?

Do you have specific questions?

Write them down before the lesson.

Review

All of our reviews are collected by us and are 100% reliable. They correspond to a real experience lived by students with Chris.

5 (4 reviews)

J

Jessica
- 5
Perfect! He's great with my daughter. The lessons via zoom have been easy to setup and attend. He is very responsive and gives great feedback and follow-up.
Read more Read more

J

Jessica

Perfect! He's great with my daughter. The lessons via zoom have been easy to setup and attend. He is very responsive and gives great feedback and follow-up.
View more reviews

Recommendations

Recommendations come from relatives, friends and acquaintances of the teacher

Al

Breadth and depth of music technique and theory such that I felt like For each minute of lesson, I got two minutes of value.
Read more

A
Al
Breadth and depth of music technique and theory such that I felt like For each minute of lesson, I got two minutes of value.
Jimmy

Best guitar teacher ever!! Great information presented in an easy to understand format. Thank you!!
Read more

J
Jimmy
Best guitar teacher ever!! Great information presented in an easy to understand format. Thank you!!
Kahlen

Chris is very knowledgeable and helpful. He's able to convey information well and has music theory down on a very in depth level
Read more

K
Kahlen
Chris is very knowledgeable and helpful. He's able to convey information well and has music theory down on a very in depth level
View more recommendations

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Pack rates

5h: $250
10h: $500

online

$50/h

Details

$25 for a 30 minute lesson before 3 pm

I currently have a waiting list for times after 3 pm.

$30 for a 30 minute lesson after 3 pm

$35 for a 30 minute lesson after 6 pm

Experienced tutor in Piano in Spokane, Chris offers private lessons tailored to your needs.

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Experienced tutor in Piano in Spokane, Chris offers private lessons tailored to your needs.

Lesson location

Recommended

About Chris

About the lesson

Review

Recommendations

Rates

Rate

Pack rates

online

Details

Other tutors in Piano

Doniell

Patrick

Sean

Emily

Leah

Susan

Rita

Cameron

Natalie

Nancy

Jennifer

Trisa

Taryn

Elijah

Tomás

Sergio

Giulia

Eduardo

Danielle

Dr Ethan Lustig

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