Madison Guitar
Brian K.
Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Ukulele
Not currently accepting new students
Brian Koenig is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and music instructor originally from Monroe, Wisconsin. He grew up playing oboe, piano, and guitar while developing an interest in the creation and composition of music. Brian attended the University of Wisconsin Whitewater where he received his Bachelor of Music degree with an emphasis on Theory and History and a minor in Arts Management. He recently received a Masters degree in Music Composition from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Lessons are tailored to the individual student with an emphasis on technique, musicality, and personal enjoyment. Topics of theory, ear development, and composition are also presented in conjunction with learning repertoire. With over 15 years of teaching and performing experience brought to each lesson, many of Brian’s students have gone on to play with successful bands and become teachers themselves.
Please feel free to visit his website.
Jeff L.
Acoustic Guitar
Offering in-person instruction
Jeff has performed with bands and done solo guitar concerts for more than 30 years, and taught students for more than 20 years. He plays and teaches most styles of music, specializing in jazz, progressive rock, classical, and fingerstyle solo guitar. He also teaches electric bass. He has released three CDs, including the score to a musical play, a jazz/rock mixture of covers and originals, and most recently, “Jeff Larsen plays Emerson Lake and Palmer,” his solo fingerstyle arrangements of ELP's best. He won a 2009 MAMA (Madison Area Music Award) for the best classical piece of the year. Having written more than 100 pieces of music, he is able to help guitarists become composers as well as players. He currently has a biweekly gig at the Java Cat, playing solo fingerstyle guitar arrangements of the Beatles, ABBA, Who, ELP, and a mix of originals.
If you want to hear more of his music, please visit his YouTube channel.
Mark S.
Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Ukulele, Bass Guitar
Offering in-person instruction
I'm a Madison native, and my musical journey has taken me through many years in San Francisco and Oakland, California. It all began during my time as a student at UW, where I played my first gigs at The Rathskeller. Over the years, I've had the opportunity to participate in playshops at the High Sierra Music Festival, which has been instrumental in refining both my performing and teaching skills. The joy of sharing music has always been at the heart of my passion.
My musical education started early with classical fingerpicking, and during my time at UW Madison, I was fortunate to study under the late, great Joan Wildman, where I delved into the world of jazz. Combining these influences, my teaching style aims to challenge my students while ensuring we have a lot of fun along the way.
One of my specialties is chord theory, and I have an extensive repertoire of hundreds of pop and rock songs. If my students are passionate about diving deep into the intricacies of the pentatonic scale, I'm more than happy to indulge and explore with them.
Throughout my teaching career, I've had the privilege of helping young students master classical guitar pieces, assisting them in their journey to be accepted into SOTA (San Francisco School Of The Arts). It's been incredibly rewarding to witness my students succeed as solo artists and band members, knowing that I played a part in their musical growth.
Jeff W.
Bass Guitar
Offering in-person instruction
Jeff is a graduate of UW-Madison’s School of Music. His studies began with his first teacher, Rob Junceau III, continuing into college, where he studied under Richard Davis for five years. There he performed with Davis’s Black Music Ensemble, UW-Jazz Little Band, and as the principal bassist for UW-Madison’s Symphony Orchestra. Jeff’s music reflects a broad application of classical and jazz influences along with almost all other genres of music. Whether it be Metal, Rock, Blues, Bluegrass, Funk, Jazz, or Rap, Jeff has had professional playing experience in all and is willing to share any knowledge. Besides teaching, he is working full time in 6 various bands and composes music for film. He recently won Madison Area Music Award’s best bassist of the year for 2012.
