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Guitar
& Fretted Instrument Instructors
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Josh Aitken
- Guitar
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Instrument(s)/Subject(s)
- Guitar
Styles: Classical, Pop, Rock
Levels: Beginners to Advanced
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Lane
Arndt - Guitar
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 Lane
Arndt began his journey in music as a young teenaged guitar player. Following
his muse of shred metal a la Yngwie Malmsteen and Jason Becker through to
jazzy fusions like Steps Ahead and Pat Metheney, he nurtured an interest
in hardcore Jazz/Improvisation through college, undergraduate and graduate
experiences in Performance and Music Theory. This took him through a mere
7 years of Post-Secondary music education and left the still young guitarist
with a head full of ideas and a heart full of musical yearnings and longings.
In the 12 years since leaving the hallowed halls of academia, he has cultivated
an approach to performance, recording and teaching that is at once entirely
personal and yet wholly accessible.
As a guitar
player, Lane Arndt trades in a type of playing that yearns to bring together
romantically beautiful melodies and sophisticated harmony to a kind of
folk-jazz middle ground. With this approach, the listener might find themselves
lulled into a kind of dreamworld, unaware that the harmonies are as pleasing
to the mind as much as the tones are pleasing the ears.
He is very fond of doing the standard jazz thing in any setting, from
solo—yup, he sings too—to trios and larger groups. He simultaneously
embraces every facet of country/folk and indie-rock/experimental genres.
If the iTunes playlist is any indication of tastes, the intermingling
of Ryan Adams with Radiohead, Shostakovitch, Bach and many, many, many
more should be a good reference point.
Lane
also spends a great deal of time as a producer, making sure that artists
get the best and most creative combination of sounds for their recordings. Between his parallel lives as teacher, performer and producer, Mr. Arndt
embodies to the fullest extent his philosophy that a good musician is
one who loves music in all of its forms at all times, any time!
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Shanti
Bremer - Banjo
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 Styles: Bluegrass (Scruggs) and Oldtime (clawhammer)
Originally from Olympia, Washington, Shanti began playing bluegrass banjo
at the age of 12. For over a decade, she has delved into the roots of
this instrument, and has found an undying love for it! In addition to
bluegrass (or Scruggs style banjo picking), Shanti also plays and teaches
clawhammer banjo.
Shanti can be heard playing in Victoria oldtime duo "The Sweet Lowdown",
as well as playing more traditional bluegrass in "Last Train".
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Steve Chmilar
- Guitar
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Instrument(s)/Subject(s):Guitar
Styles: Classical, Pop, Rock
Levels: Beginners to Advanced
Steven
Chmilar has been playing guitar for fifteen years and teaching for about
ten years. A description of his specific playing style will change with
the seasons and the minutes, as he is proficient in most styles of music,
including drums, bass and voice. His teaching style is directly suited
to each individual student in whatever genre they are interested in, or
whatever level they are at.
One
of his strongest attributes as a teacher is a great deal of patience,
as well as motivational skills that are so important for beginners. Previous
students, young and old have benefited from his teaching style which
mixes the "hands on" approach (playing songs and improvising) along with
music theory.
Steven
has played professionally for almost ten years in bands and as a solo
artist, played on many stages across this great land, written and recorded
two full length albums with Calgary band 'the villains' and won a national
songwriting contest at Canada music Week in Toronto in 06'. Had his music
played on rock radio stations across Canada and XM satellite radio and
has sold over 3000 albums independently. A new album is in the works with
a new drummer based out of Vancouver. Some of his music can be heard at
myspace.com/thevillainscanada
or chmilar.ca
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Ken
Hall - Guitar
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Ken Hall is a west coast guitarist and
flute player who was born in Toronto. He studied composition at the
Royal Conservatory of Music with Samuel Dolin. Originally a piano player,
he switched his attention to the guitar when he moved to Vancouver in
1968 where he became involved with the folk and blues scene. In 1974, he traveled
to Europe and studied flamenco guitar in Spain before spending 6 months in
Morocco, learning the Oud and Ney flute. In 1984 he moved to Victoria
and has been playing world music in many groups including, Kumbia (
latin dance band), Sunyata ( gypsy flamenco), Kettle of fish ( celtic),
Sara Marreiros ( Portugese Fado) Blue Morroco ( Algerian Rai). Ken is
a full time musician who has produced two original music CDs and played
on dozens of others. Ken was the head teacher at Old Town Strings in
Market Square for 20 years. His teaching style is based on the North
American roots, Blues, country and folk styles, Latin and world music.
Ken takes students of all ages and experience.
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Carli
Kennedy - Guitar
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Instrument(s)/Subject(s):
guitar
music
Styles: All styles
Levels: Beginners to Advanced
Carli
Kennedy is a graduate of the University of Victoria's Bachelor of music
program. She has been playing guitar
for thirteen years and has been awarded numerous prizes, including first
place in the National guitar
Class at the 2007 British Columbia Festival of the Performing Arts and
third prize at the 2007 Canadian National music
Festival. Carli performs regularly around Victoria with her sister,
Julie, as a member of their duo, "The Kennedys".
She enjoys writing her own music,
as well as singing and playing piano. Carli has over six years of teaching
experience in a variety of styles, including classical, jazz, rock,
and folk. Visit her website at http://www.cjkennedy.com/ |
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Paul
Laverick - Ukulele Adventures Classes
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Paul has been playing
the guitar for more than fourteen years in bands or as a soloist in
both Leeds, England and the Victoria area. He undertook private lessons
from Paul Judge and David Ashworth as well as studying guitar at Leeds
College of music in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. He has a good knowledge
of music theory and can play several other instruments, including
the Piano. Paul performs regularly as a soloist or with the "Hey
Marmaduke" band, among others.
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Tyler Lieb -- "Jazz Combo" and "Guitar Quintet" Classes |
 Tyler Lieb is an award-winning young jazz guitarist. He began playing piano at 4 years old, and switched to guitar to join a friend's rock band at age 14. As a jazz musician, Tyler is influenced by John Coltrane, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Mike Moreno, Tom Harrell, Maria Schneider, Billie Holiday, Bud Powell, and many others, especially his own teachers. He also finds joy in many other musics, from hip hop, to folk, to choral, and beyond. A student of guitarists Pat Coleman and Kevin Brunkhorst, as well as pianists Brent Jarvis and Tony Genge, Tyler graduated with first class honours from St. Francis Xavier University in 2008, whereupon he received the inaugural MusiCan Fred Sherrat Award for outstanding graduating student. Since then, Tyler has had the honour to perform music with Victoria jazz musicians such as Roy Styffe, Sean Drabitt, Josh Dixon, and Kelby MacNayr, as well as be a member of the orchestra on Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's Explorer of the Seas.
Tyler is a perpetual student, and loves to share the joy and challenges of exploring and learning music with his own students. Tyler is spending 2009-2010 teaching and performing music in Victoria, and plans to continue his studies towards a Master's Degree in the coming years. |
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Chris Saunders
- Guitar
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Instrument(s)/Subject(s):
guitar and Electric Bass guitar
music Styles: Rock, Blues-Rock, Folk,
Pop, Bluegrass, Flamenco, Heavy Metal, and Country
Levels:
Beginners to Advanced
Chris
has been teaching guitar for fifteen years. He was previously at the
Ottawa Folklore Centre. He plays most styles of both flat-picking and
finger picking.
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Mark Sheeler
- Guitar, Theory and Songwriting
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Instrument(s)/Subject(s):
guitar, Theory and Song Writing
music Styles: Jazz, Rock, Blues and
Classical.
Levels: Beginners to Advanced
Mark
comes to us from Hamilton, Ontario, and has been performing on the guitar
for seventeen years in both Ontario and British Columbia. Originally self-taught
on the guitar, he went to enroll at the Mohawk College's music Arts Program
to receive formal training under Toronto's Jazz Guitarist Geoff Young,
as well as learning the Piano and music rudiments. After earning his diploma,
Mark began "gigging" and teaching in the styles of Jazz, Rock, Blues and
Classical. He has been teaching professionally for four years.
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Trav
Short - Electric and Upright Bass
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 Trav
fell in love with the electric bass guitar in 1991 and the seed of a
instrumental experimenter was planted. In
1994 he attended the music program at Grant MacEwan College. He hated
it so he quit before the end of the first year and began composing and
performing. But while there, a much larger world of music was presented
to him and the best lessons he took to heart. How to practice, how to
work hard and how to listen and play what Trav would play.
Since
his old college days Trav has performed and/or recorded with many songwriters
from all different styles. He has provided the "low end" for
local theatre and dance and has performed many times with various avant-guard/musique
actuelle collectives. The drive to create & perform original music
led to the birth of his group 'AUDio SQUADron' in 2002 where, on top
of his bass duties, he could experiment with synthesis, samples and
other electronic sound manipulations. The same year saw him join the
world-beat fusion group 'Moksha' which released their first CD 'Lady
Sun' in 2004. Self produced AUDio SQUADron albums followed in 2006 and
2008.
Playing
fretless electric bass in Moksha sparked his current love affair, the
upright bass, which he has studied with Ioan Tetel, Mike Lent and currently
with Han Han Cho. Trav is presently making many jazz and classical type
sounds and exploring his new found voice on the double bass. Over the
last 5 years he has had the privilege to play and perform live on this
giant fiddle with many other freelance musicians and instrumentalists.
Trav
has been teaching private bass lessons for the last 15 years. He feels
very passionate about this part of his musical journey. His past and
present army of bass students is 500 strong and growing every day. Trav
can easily grow
an army of bass players but cannot, to save his life, grow a beard.
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