Phil Westfall
YOUR Music of Choice . . .
Phil Westfall's Background and Methods
BIO:
Phil started with the piano at 6, guitar at age 10 and bass at 14. He studied notation, advanced theory and all that stuff throughout school. He played lead guitar in the Escondido High School Jazz Ensemble for 2 years, and professional gigs starting at age 15. Phil has now played with over 50 bands and 1000's of gigs. He has been a pro guitarist/bassist/lead singer since the mid-70's.
Known as the “Human Jukebox,” Phil loves to play the songs he grew up with; and likes learning the
newest hits too -- giving lessons in the Colorado Springs area.
When I began giving guitar lessons back in the late 1980s, the first thing I noticed was that the Mel Bay Method predominated (still does). It works, but many guitarists are discouraged by the tedium of learning the guitar one note at a time...
Here's my innovation: Lessons begin by starting my students right away on their Music of Choice.
They pick the artists and songs; I teach 'em. We cover all applicable theory as we go, song by song.
Here's my secret: I teach the guitar player of any level how to groove. He/she doesn't just learn a string of notes and chords; they learn how to play it in tempo, with feeling. I help most students achieve this, fairly fast.
Providing correct guitar charts is one of my specialties. We use charts of every kind --
but charts alone don't make a guitarist...
Parts is Parts & Charts is Charts:
My students want to learn a song. They may dig songs from several different artists. With the internet and all its resources, who needs books? A book may cost $40 and have only one of the 10-20 songs that my student wants to learn. Firstly, I can hear the guitar part. Anyone can, with training.
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Please go to my Guitar Resources Page for details on Guitar Charts & much more...
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Often the most effective guitar chart is a Lead Sheet, or lyrics with guitar chords. I make charts, or download one or more of the different types that are out there.
I use Microsoft Word to create simple Lead Sheets with chords over the words. These are generally the easiest to read while playing guitar and singing.
Guitar Pro 5 is my favorite program, bar none. Most of my guitar students have it, and it is an
invaluable tool for mastering virtuous guitar parts (see screenshot above).
Eventually we record our performances
on my Zoom H2 Handy Recorder...
At my Studio, I also use the Inspire 1394 Audio Interface...
...along with Acid Pro...
...one of the many Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) out there, to record high quality (up to 24 bit @ 96KHz resolution) tracks for my album, which I am in the production process with now.
