Christopher Nov.

Chris is currently in the final stages of self producing his first professional EP. He will teach you the fundamentals of using Logic and GarageBand to help you get the best possible sound out of your home resources.

Chris’ music theory lessons will teach you all the essentials of music theory with the express goal of “making the first year of college at music school a breeze.” You’ll learn how to find pitches, write melodies, how to analyze chord progressions, modes and their application, chord substitutions, how to invert chords, and how to build multipartite arrangements.

In addition to being an in-demand guitarist, Chris also regularly gigs around Dallas as a fill-in bass player for bands. In his lessons, he will teach you how to ‘find the pocket’ (and explain what ‘pocket’ is), the many ways to play the bass using both pick and fingers, arpeggios and how to apply them, and how to do ‘walks’ on the bass to take your bass parts to the next level. You’ll learn riffs like “Superfreak” to help you find the ‘pocket’ and learn the 1960s picked bass style that are on countless classic recordings with bassines like “Good Vibrations.” If you’re stuck just playing the root note (or you don’t know what that is yet), Chris is your guy. Chris also teaches the fundamentals of jazz bass, as well.

Chris’ vocal lessons focus on mastering diaphragm control to maximize projection and minimize strain on the throat. Chris’ vocal lessons focus on precision pitch training to work on the details of your vocal performance. He will help you understand singing in a nuts-and-bolts way, creating an incremental process to help you sing your favorite songs better than you ever have. Select a few of your favorite songs and Chris will come up with a step-by-step curriculum custom to you to teach you how to sing.

Chris’ drum lessons focus on intensive work with the metronome to help a developing drummer really establish a steady sense of time. Early lessons focus on footwork and progress into stick work and beats after the foundation of time keeping is established on the feet. Once the student is ready to progress to drumbeats, Chris often breaks out his bass in the lesson to help the student really begin to develop the essential interplay between drummer and bass players that is the backbone of great live music.

Chris’ guitar lessons focus on both technique and music theory, using songs as the mechanism to hone good technique. Early on, you will be playing songs like “Rumble” by Link Wray and “Evil” by Howlin’ Wolf to get acquainted with the fretboard. When you’re ready for an additional challenge, you can take on Chris’ “Master Of Puppets” unit (which actually pre-dates the “Stranger Things” appearance by several months) to really test your technique. If Nirvana and Grunge is more your speed, Chris has an entire unit that will teach you about Kurt Cobain’s rig, influences, and songwriting technique. Chris also teaches how to music from the soundtracks of video games (like Mario, Sonic, Cuphead, Mega Man, and more!) on the guitar. Beyond that, Chris is a tremendous resource when it comes time to purchase musical equipment. As someone well-acquainted with the instrument market, he will help you find the right equipment for *you* at the best prices and educate you so that you’ll be equipped to make savvy purchases for yourself in the future.