Experienced tutor in Guitar in New York, David offers private lessons tailored to your needs.

I’ve been going to David for more than a year now. I started as a beginner and I’ve since seen improvements in every area of my playing, from tone to technical skill. David balances providing structure while honoring my personal goals and music taste. He’s an incredible musician in many respects and I’ve really enjoyed learning from him.

David is an awesome teacher - he's really quick at figuring out where your strengths and weakness lie and creating specific exercises to improve your playing. He's also got interesting perspectives on music and is a really nice guy!

David's an incredibly gifted teacher that I recommend to guitarists of all levels. In just a few lessons his technique laid the groundwork for being a more competent and cognizant musician, and after 6 months the change in my playing was dramatic.

David combines teaching the fundamental techniques with showing me how to play the songs that I actually /want/ to play. Both aspects are being taught with great professionalism as well as a good dosage of fun. I can only highly recommend him!

David is a fantastic teacher. He is extremely attentive and very adaptable to what you want as a student. I had no previous guitar experience and needed to learn basics for a show and he made it happen. I highly recommend him!

I've been a bass player for 30+ years and I recently decided I wanted to take my playing to a higher level. My musical theory / knowledge has never been as good as it should or could be. I started taking lessons with numerous "Bass guitar" teachers but they were more focused on technique and that's not where my skill set was lacking. I found David First on Thumbtack and since he was located close to where I live, I decided to try him as my teacher. Long story short, best musical decision I've made in a very long time... David isn't a "bass guitar" teacher per se', he's a MUSIC teacher and that's exactly what I needed. He's extremely competent in his knowledge of theory and he's a very patient teacher. He's got a very chill, Zen vibe about him which makes studying under him very easy and peaceful. I can already see a major improvement in my understanding of what to play, when to play it and why it works as a result of our lessons. If you're looking for a great music teacher, I highly recommend David First.