My son started taking guitar lessons with Louis at DalMaestro in their [Manhattan UWS location] when he was just shy of 5, and we couldn’t be happier with the experience! Louis is incredibly kind, patient, and encouraging, and he has a wonderful ability to make learning both fun and engaging for young children. What impresses me most is how creative and thoughtful he is in his teaching. He incorporates games like Simon Says to help my son learn the parts of the guitar and play notes, has him listen for mistakes in measures that Louis plays (which has really helped develop his ear!), and even challenges him to identify whether chords are major, minor, diminished, etc. He has a great sense of when to push him a little further and when to change things up, and he’s particularly skilled at gently redirecting him when his five-year-old attention span starts to wander. Louis also makes a point of rewarding hard work by giving him opportunities to do the things he especially enjoys, like practicing his note writing. It’s clear that he really pays attention to what motivates each student and finds ways to build on their interests. In just a few months, I’ve been amazed by how much my son has learned and, more importantly, how much he genuinely enjoys his lessons. Louis strikes such a wonderful balance between making music fun and helping his students develop real skills. We feel very lucky to have found him and would highly recommend!

A fantastic teacher

Isabella is a fantastic teacher. I have been taking weekly lessons with her for the past 8 months and as an absolute beginner she made me feel very comfortable and confident. My progress has been very rewarding and I owe it all to her skill as an instructor. She makes sight reading and playing an absolute joy as her pace is very carefully matched to my ability. She knows how to help me through the tough parts and since she is so experienced as a teacher she knows what to emphasize and how to help me get over the inevitable “bumps”. I will continue to work with her for as long as she continues to teach!!!

Play Classical Guitar Like a Professional!

I do not know how I would have progressed as a guitar player and musician without Isabella’s lessons. Coming in to lessons, I had a very strong guitar playing background but only a rudimentary ability on the classical guitar, and almost no ability to sight-read. I used to be stuck and feel hesitation when I looked at a piece written in sheet music (vs guitar tablature). I now feel the opposite way and confident that my ability and repertoire are going to grow even further.

Isabella has a wide knowledge of composers and styles. She has helped me find music that I enjoy playing and also helped me to improve my technique and discard bad habits I had brought to the classical guitar from playing other instruments. I would recommend Isabella to anyone who wants to expand their ability as a musician and play the classical guitar like a professional, even if they only play as a hobby.