IN PERSON LESSONS AND ONLINE ZOOM TRAINING LESSONS AVAILABLE!!!

LEAVE YOUR HOME AND PLAY GUITAR LIKE IT’S 2019!!

• Enjoy the freedom of playing guitar or bass in a professional studio vs your bedroom!!

• Accepting new music students but are close to full capacity like usual

• 52 weeks a year guitar/bass music program with videos, recordings and performance events

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The Most Complete Path For Your Guitar Playing Future.

Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced Players Welcome!!!

Do You Have Show Performance Fears?

I Have Helped HUNDREDS OF STUDENTS Get On Stage And Perform!!

I See and Hear About These three Common problems,

1) I seem to know only parts of songs, Why?

2) I Am Afraid to perform on stage because of other people watching me. My fears are holding me back but i want to do this someday.

3) I play on stage but I’m not able to perform/Play the way I’d like.

How can you help me overcome these issues and make stepping on stage a reality one day?

These are the three BIGGEST problems for most students concerning the topic of playing a show. A lot of my experienced new students generally don't know how to play ANY song 100% let alone live on stage in a band setting. Secondly, even if they did know how to play a song 100% they feel insecure about doing it in front of people so they wouldn't step on stage anyways. I wanted to address these show issues and more to help students say YES to playing live, so I created a special event in my format called "Student Performance Night." 

1) = Gain the skills, techniques and core music training to play music accurately, consistently and apply that learn 100% of every song!!!

You will first get training on HOW to actually play the instrument correctly/efficiently so you can really play the song parts LIKE THE BAND!!! After the above is done during the lessons each week, THEN you’ll have way more fun playing popular and professional songs during my custom lesson semesters. You will train on how to break down all the song sections, use a music program that will allow you to learn the song parts FASTER than ever before and finally play ALL the music correctly during your weekly practice's at home. (Other training steps not included purposely due to competitors online)

2) = Build your confidence to play live!!!

Everyone wishes or wants to get good enough to play songs live but either don’t feel they’re good enough or that it’s not a priority etc. Now come-on, if you swapped places with your favorite player I bet you’d change your mind about playing live….SO = You will build this confidence by slowly implementing lesson training, handouts and personal performance questionnaires I create to guide you as a performer/player so you will look and feel like the stage performer you always wanted to be. Training like this week after week and implementing the show/performance articles and handouts I created, you will feel ready to step on stage and not be as fearful or anxious because of this specific training (other secret steps I leave out on purpose). 

3) = Step on stage and play 100% of these songs live!!! When it's time for you to step on the big stage in the future you'll have done and simulated this process many times, trained on how to learn the songs efficiently and THEN can feel confident in how you look performing/playing to an audience and will say YES to playing live. There are other details I must leave out but there are plenty as aspects we'll touch on to help you step on stage and perform like never before and feel confident in yourself and accomplishments.

My specific live show training processes will identify the areas you need to work on and give you the time to make all the needed corrections far in advance of any real live event you'd play in the future. This will allow you to evolve as a player and performer which is same process all the pros do so they look like pro's and not average joe's on stage. After months of doing this process you're ready for my big show night, "Student Performance Night".

Start your process of becoming a confident stage performer with a free consultation. I've helped solve these crippling problems for students because it frustrated me to see them not prepared for school talent shows, their band's live performances or opening the door for those who thought they couldn't ever do this but wanted to step on stage someday. When you train with me these problems get addressed and fade away as a part of my lessons. No longer will students be massively afraid of the stage after just 6 months in my format. But you're not going to experience this aspect in 99% of music stores lesson offerings. If you don't believe me now that you've found me by searching for guitar lessons near me, then look up guitar lessons in Buffalo Grove, guitar lessons in Wheeling, guitar lessons in Deerfield, guitar lessons in Vernon Hills, guitar lessons in Northbrook, guitar lessons in Lincolnshire, guitar lessons in Palatine, guitar lessons in Mundelein, guitar lessons in Long Grove, guitar lessons in Arlington Hts and see which stores or teachers are doing this. Or simply book your free consultation today and step on stage fear-free with my training. 

Guitar Lessons for Grade School, High School & Adult Beginners

• Have FUN And Get Results FAST With A Revolutionary Music Program

• Gain The Skills To Play Your Favorite Songs

• Get out of the rut you've been in and train in new musical categories every week

• Learn The Basics And Proper Playing Technique

• Be A Star At Your School's Talent Show

• YOU Can be the musical Inspiration for Your Children By Playing Guitar To Them

• Jam With Others And Stop Playing Anxiety

• Perform Live (When You're Ready) And Take The Next Step To Fulfilling A Dream

• Record Music In A Professional Studio

• Make Music Videos And Be A YouTube Sensation

• Meet Other Students And Make Music Friends

• Create New Memories You'll Remember FOREVER!!

Why Should Beginners, Intermediate And Advanced Players Take Lessons From A Guitar Teacher With 27 Years Experience Like Mike Walsh?

*You'll Have Fun And Look Forwards To Playing Guitar For The Rest Of Your Life!

I've spent decades helping students get results on guitar by mixing in a ton of fun activities like shows, videos, recording sessions and band jams with a positive attitude to help you enjoy the guitar like I do. When you get to do things like your favorite players it sure does make playing/learning guitar/bass way more fun and you’ll stick with it and play FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!!!

* You’ll Follow A Proven Path To Success That Will Lead YOU To Real Results!!

I have a GIANT database (thousands of documents/files) of lessons I’VE CREATED over the many years that clearly state and visually show you how or what you’re musically going to play. I’m NOT WINGING the lessons here as ALL my lessons are clearly thought out, planned and take you through steps 1-2-3 etc. I’ve spent thousands of hours putting my lessons into a REFINED LIBRARY YOU GET TO USE!!! This translates into = MASSIVE RESULTS NOW!!!

*Learn In My unique, professional music environment vs a closet sized room.

ENVIRONMENT MATTERS!!! You're going to like coming to lessons and being in a $80,000 recording studio vs a closet or your bedroom week after week. What real world music experiences do you gain by being in a closet or your bedroom?  Answer = Very few!! Now, how fun does a closet sized room sound vs a $80,000 recording studio? Answer = STUDIO WINS EVERY TIME! Play on amps alone valued at over $40,000!!!

*Increased passion for music And Life!

How does this sound, you get to record famous songs you like and heard of in a big recording studio just like the band had to on their CD, sound cool?

How about playing live shows of these songs you 100% learned just like the pro bands who made them, sound cool?

How about using technology to get better faster and see more results month after month?

Does this sound like the average guitar/bass student does any or even some of this?

Isn’t guitar/bass learning and training sounding pretty cool now? If so, you haven’t even done this, you’ve just read how you’re going to do it so imagine how this really feels after you’ve done it? Yes, it’s a great feeling and your passion for music will explode.

Simply put, you will like coming to lessons each week and hopefully enjoy life more with your new found skill set and self confidence. Students get so pumped about lessons I had to team up with a music store to give them deals on all the new gear they buy. Whoa!!

*This Is A Real Music School, I Create MUSICIANS!

Think of becoming a musical body builder with many big and developed musical muscles all over. This example is how you’d break down the diverse categories of a musician and I will train you to become this. Now think of having just big arms but everything else is pretty small and not that strong etc?

Which sounds better to you and which one is stronger, more productive and can handle hard new musical tasks time after time? The underdeveloped music body is most self taught and local guitar/bass lessons and internet lessons offer, limited category training and out of balance music skills without an order based on priorities and real results lead outcomes. See my friends, the internet is ok at helping you be a slightly better player and learning random aspects you find videos on but real music knowledge and a proven priority order would take a lot of time to find online and you’d need to know where to look which is a lot to ask someone who’s not a pro in the first place. You need a PRO Player/Teacher/Trainer/Coach with a planned out school system to help YOU become a musician. I CREATE MUSICIANS!!! Becoming a musician has WAY MORE VALUE than being just a better player, this is a FACT and one reason why music colleges are so expensive and require you to attend for many years. You will experience more real music aspects here, vs traditional music stores or average teachers, that will make you better in MANY musical categories/topics etc. You will not only become a better player here, but a better all around musician by my guidance and develop new skills to carry over into whatever music you love to play most. All these skills will make learning/playing/applying way better and faster leading to bigger results. When you understand and can apply many aspects of music you will NOT get into a rut or plateau, you turn into a guitar/bass beast and constantly make bigger and bigger gains physically and mentally. You're going to enjoy practicing more than ever before because you'll see you’re becoming a better all around musician by training in all these musical categories. Your musical pie chart is going to get filled in and I’ll show you proof we'll learn and train in a ton of musical categories week after week to make it happen for you. Become a musician, not just a player!!!

*We don’t Use Progress Limiting Guitar Books That Will Hold You Back!

Want to get out of your rut, physical plateau or over your creative wall? Well then don't go buying Brand X Guitar Book 1 and expect fast results!!! Using the same old guitar books written in the 70's by mediocre teachers and players isn't going to offer you faster progress. I have a custom made music database that will instantly supercharge your results!! I also have classes that train in specific categories you will like and need help in to advance even more on guitar. I taught guitar and bass lessons in music stores across IL for 20 years; I know all of the pitfalls students face in this traditional format and closet-sized room environment. I spent a lot of time thinking about all of the areas students were not getting addressed in the traditional format and I created my own custom learning format to address each issue. My lessons literally check off as many learning and training boxes as possible that you won’t get with traditional lessons or the sad guitar books. I offer all this EXTRA VALUE while keeping the price of the lessons CHEAPER (different lesson packages available that will blow you away!!) than music stores/teachers!!!

* Stop The YouTube Madness (Watching vs Training)!!

Think about this, how much time do you spend watching guitar lessons on YouTube vs you actually playing the lessons from YouTube??? This is a results killer, I estimated from asking new students this question that they waste about 75% of all their lesson time watching the video vs playing the actual lesson taught!!!! This is a HUGE loss in potential guitar abilities. SPEND MORE TIME LEARNING AND TRAINING and less time watching by taking real guitar lessons from a PRO!!! Oh ya, and when you have a question or a technique that's in need of tweaking how's that YouTube video going to stop that bad habit?? = IT WON'T, no one's there on YouTube to train you in real time!!! There is MORE VALUE in working with PROFESSIONALS!!!

*Faster Improvement with the most efficient playing techniques.

Check out my Heavy Metal Section (You don’t need to like heavy metal to learn my techniques), Super Shred is PROOF that I can turn you into a physical freak and play whatever you want!!! I’ve spent decades refining the art of playing efficiency using sports science and applying hundreds of years of traditional string techniques I learned in college, this translates to = You Getting Better MUCH FASTER!! Most guitar/bass players are self-taught and don’t give much thought to HOW they do any physical movements on the guitar/bass. I’ve not only thought all of this through but unlike most guitar teachers, who are self-taught and don’t even play efficiently themselves, I’ve created technique training documents I’ve refined over many years YOU GET TO USE!!! So, how are those other teachers going to teach picking and fretting efficiency to you and make playing easier, more consistent and accurate when they don’t know how to do it themselves and haven’t bothered to think, refine and put any time into creating a document and training sessions to help you? They can't help you = FACT. Don't believe me, just look at how 99% of them play sitting down. If you're not sure what I'm getting at, then I can easily teach you in 5 minutes how they're all 100% playing with improper muscle memory and playing posture while harming their and your progress.

*28 years experience teaching guitar FULL TIME with a Music Education degree.

• Who you’re getting lessons from should matter, correct? = In the guitar teaching industry, the combo above is really rare to find. Teachers/Trainers/Coaches are NOT all the same and either is their effort. Everyone in elite sports knows coaching matters, in music the coach MATTERS EVEN MORE!!!

• Do you want lessons from a teacher with music educational training and continuing education? = What the teacher knows is just one valuable aspect to passing down knowledge, I’m a teacher that also continues to learn and grow year to year. How about this, would you prefer your Doctor have a degree from Harvard or The Medical School Of Online Videos? Ya, I know which Doctor I’m choosing.

• Does teaching experience matter to you? = I’d hope so as you’re PAYING for lessons and your results based on proven teaching systems and experiences!! Think of it like this, music teachers are guides, would you rather pay someone who isn’t sure how to lead you to Guitar City or pay the guide who knows exactly how to get you to Guitar City on the fastest route with great insight on Guitar City and makes the ride fun along the way to make the travel to time there fly by??

• Do you value testimonial proof from others? = If so, check out my testimonials page I created over the last few years (I didn’t ask for student testimonials until 2017 and only from students here for 1+ years). I have so many I had to create an Adults and Kids page since I started the page recently.

• Would you rather take lessons from a FULL TIME teacher or a PART TIME teacher that also works a different job? = I’m not only a FULL TIME teacher but it’s the ONLY job I’ve had over the last 27 years!!! I constantly think about HOW to make the lessons better when I’m not teaching, this is how I keep making my school bigger and better and with more value for YOU!!! It’s very difficult to make the lessons better when you don’t have any time to “THINK” about what is working, what needs refinement & how to grow. Also, I’ve had new students find me after their teacher left the music industry for a new career job because it wasn’t their true passion or because they weren’t really that good. This is my ONLY job and I'm not going to EVER quit!!

• Does it matter to you if your teacher cares a lot and wants you to reach your goals? = It’s easy to see how much your teacher cares even from the first lesson, do they plan out your lesson path and express it to you weekly, do you fill out questionnaires, do they ask you to think about your goals and hold you to them, do they invest money into their school for technology/gear/experiences that you get to use, did they even bother to create a school of learning systems/programs and have a music philosophy, do they spend time each week to create a database to help YOU, do you get homework emails from them, did you meet them first before starting lessons so they can explain how they’re going to help you?

*No Wasted Lesson time & Money!

99% of traditional guitar teachers waste lesson time and money due to having to write new lessons in your blank music book each week. This translates to around 20% of every traditional lesson being spent with you doing nothing.  I DON’T DO THAT.  My lessons gain you back all of this lost and valuable lesson time/money by using my enormous database of lessons in which I created ahead of your lesson time. I simply hit "print" and out comes your lesson.  Wouldn’t you rather spend 20% more time training and learning during each lesson vs. watching the teacher write in your book and wasting all of that time? The simple answer is YES, but you can only get that with my lessons. 

MATH TIME = How You're Wasting Money With Traditional Lessons That Write Out Everything.

If a student takes a 1 hour lesson 52 times a year, 20% of 52 hours equals = 10.4 hours of FREE lessons!!! My lesson system vs traditional lessons = 10 1/2 free lessons a year and more lesson value for you.

*Practice Perfectly at home and make More Progress Each Week.

With most traditional lessons when you go home to practice, your basic music book and blank staff/tab book the teacher wasted 20% of the lesson time writing in, doesn’t play back the lesson notes and rhythms perfectly like my guitar program files do. Their music book also doesn't allow you to slow down the music or loop hard music sections so you can train more effectively to get better. This means most students using the traditional music book don’t practice at home correctly and lose out on making maximum progress each week. My music program will allow you to practice and train at home the EXACT way you did here with me. This means that your time away from me is like I’m there with you, because the program will play the lesson/song PERFECT every time meaning you'll practice at home perfect every time and make WAY MORE PROGRESS EACH WEEK.  You can’t get that progress from traditional lessons; I know, I stopped doing that myself years ago because my new way is MUCH better for you. I have proof this leads to faster results!

*Keep every Guitar and Bass lesson FOREVER!

I create custom lessons that I put in a lesson folder specifically for you!! Good luck finding a teacher that can say this = I have EVERY lesson you’ve ever done with me!!! This folder is a tremendous amount of lesson value YOU get to use at home FOREVER!!

Now think about when you lose your blank lesson book from the closet lessons that wasted 20% of each lesson by the teacher writing in it, aren't those lessons gone forever? = YEP.  But with my system, I simply just email you your Lesson Folder and in seconds EVERY lesson you ever took from me is back in your computer. Think about this value, you will have every lesson file you've learned here and can review them years and decades from now exactly the way we learned and trained on them here. Now on the joking side, this is huge for all you Jr. High through College Students who seemed to always lose your books. Hahaha!

Record Like The Pros and Become A Better Player

BENEFITS

• Do Something Not Even 1% Of The World Will Ever Do!! Then Get Good At It And Be

  .0001% of the music population!!!

• Utilize a Professional Recording Studio as Part of Your Musical Growth At No Extra Charge

• Have Fun Creating Audio Recordings You’ll Have Forever Of Your Guitar/Bass Playing

• Play on over $40,000 Worth Of Amps!!!!

• Learn Recording Performance Technique Tips That Only Pros Know And Keep A Secret

• Improve Your Rhythm Playing By Training To Double Track Like The Pros Do

• Perform Under Pressure, Gain Experience And Get A Handle On Your Playing Anxiety

• Learn How To Prepare At Home For Big Music Events By Having Scheduled Recording Sessions

• Get Experience Recording Regularly And Reach Your Long And Short Term Goals

• Take Your Playing To New Levels By Analyzing Your Recordings To Make The Corrections Needed To Get Better

• Utilize These Recording Skills To Carry Over Into Being A Great On Stage Musician

• Learn About Gear And Sound Like A Pro

• Learn About Recording And Become Your Bands Recording Engineer Someday

• See What It Takes To Record Your Favorite Songs Just Like The Band Did

• Gain Confidence To Record YOUR Music Someday In YOUR Band!!

• Do You Have A Music Bucket List And Recording In A Professional Studio, Like Your Favorite Bands Did, Is On It? = CHECK

Mike Excels At Advancing Guitar Players:

1. Playing Technique

2. Fingering & Picking Efficiency Training

3. Muscle Memory, Coordination & Synchronization Training

4. Rhythm And Solo Phrasing, Musical Expression Awareness and Implementation

5. Songwriting & Music Theory

6. Live Show Performance And Preparation

7. Recording and Recording Preparation

When you take lessons from me, the Guru of Guitar Technique, you get better at guitar right now.  In just one lesson I can solve the problem you’ve been dealing with for weeks, months or years.  Explode your growth by implementing my efficiency training methods to overcome the obstacles holding your performance back. 

Transforming Average Joes Into Elite Pros

I'm Skeptical About Finding a Great guitar teacher vs. just "another" teacher; how are your results?

I know what you mean and it's one reason why I created, and constantly evolve, my unique guitar school system. New and current students see I care by how I constantly think, ask them, create and refine training methods, documents and all sorts of aspects to help them reach their goals faster while having fun. If you don't believe I care about you and your progress, your trust in the learning process will diminish and you will eventually quit and quitting guarantees you won’t reach any guitar goal. I work hard to gain students trust by constantly testing and creating new methods of improvement while being the best music friend you'll have. After you spend 2 months in my format, you'll see that I've thought A LOT about my students and their musical happiness and work hard to help you.

The sad reality is that most guitar teachers are either learning on the job, don't put much thought into your progress path, aren't passionate about teaching or just aren’t knowledgeable enough to get their students the results they expect. Don’t worry, I have proof I can transform you like the countless others I've taught over the years!  I have been teaching guitar lessons for 26 years and have a degree in Music Education from Elmhurst College.  I am an elite player with countless guitar lesson systems and methods that get you results!!! My students have gone on to have successful careers playing and teaching music with my mentoring. Would it help to mention that I’m actually a pretty fun person to be around?  Hopefully, but I’m not “another” teacher in any regards and this website should add light to this answer by going to the TESTIMONIALS PAGE.  You don’t have to take my words on this topic, just read for yourself on that page. You will get the results you want and I’ll open up doors to places you might never have thought were possible in your playing, songwriting, recordings and show performances. 

Can your guitar lessons really take me, an average joe, and transform me into an elite player?

YES, I transform Average Joes into Elite Pros with my Results Based System.  Let me prove it to you with another video from my former student, Daniel Farnsworth. Daniel started guitar lessons with me in seventh grade, continued throughout high school and a little while at Tribecca College. Daniel wasn't born with superhero abilities (not that he told me about), he came to me like all beginners = excited, eager to learn and willing to put in the time to get good/great. The secret is in KEEPING students excited, eager to learn and wanting to put in the time to be good/great. Eventually his story read like all great players = He trusted, listened and implemented the teaching and training passed down by a great teacher to become great himself.

WATCH THIS VIDEO! Daniel performed, wrote, recorded and video-edited all of this!!

Why am I not seeing much improvement in my playing even though I’m practicing, getting help from friends and using YouTube videos to learn from?

Simply put,

1) You need a true professional to teach and train you on a regular basis and give you FEEDBACK!! 

2) High expectations, unique experiences, efficient methods and how to practice and perform like a professional in order to achieve huge results will cure your rut or plateau!!

Having a professional coach to make sure you’re executing correctly, planning out your path with GOALS and fixing your playing issues is important. Also, learning musical concepts relevant to your goals is irreplaceable vs finding random guitar licks or riffs to play on the internet.  

Do Olympic athletes learn from friends and YouTube videos and then go on to win the gold medal?  No, they get trained by the best coaches and use every day to transform into the best they can be and win. So lets win together and I’ll put you on a path to having fun while gaining impressive results on guitar or bass.