As a teacher, I have guided many students to successfully advance their skills on the guitar. I love the way teaching was described by master trumpeter and longtime teacher William Vacchiano (teacher to Miles Davis and Wynton Marsalis, among many others). He said... "To me, teaching is like what a painter does. As a teacher, I see each student as a great piece of art. Each student comes in, more or less raw or green. In each student I can reproduce myself, you might say, and create great artists." That is what a master teacher does. Here are what some of my students have to say to you...
"Before writing this testimonial about Tim Quinn, I decided to read others already posted on Tim’s website. If you are not already a student of Tim’s, the superlatives might sound like exaggerated comments from enthusiastic students. They are not. I have played guitar on-and-off for a number of years. Focus on family and work had kept me from seriously pursuing this passion of mine. I now have the best of all worlds, free time and the finest guitar teacher in San Diego or perhaps southern California.
"My name is Carlos A. Alvarez. I'm a 29 year old, Mexican guy, with an accent. This is my experience with Tim Quinn. Tim: Your patience and profound diligence toward the guitar student is second to none. I always felt as if you took us by the hand and led us to a road of enlightenment. After a few lessons with you, I could already see how you would easily direct my path in conquering the guitar. I never thought I could memorize the different scale patterns and play all over the fretboard, let alone improvise. I am still progressing in guitar playing and I owe it all to you.
"I was reluctant at first when choosing a guitar teacher, because I was looking for one who knew his stuff and at the same knew how to convey knowledge to his students. Tim is that and much more. I am really grateful to have found him, because in him, I have found not only a teacher, but really, a music mentor, who I could talk about any aspect of music that was on my mind, and he would be able to add to it nicely.
"I feel privileged to have studied with a teacher that has the breadth and depth of musicianship to fully embrace a wide variety of styles, including Rock, Blues, Slide, Jazz, Country, Finger-style, and Classical genres. Tim uses published and original materials, personal transcriptions, and customized studies to convey ideas; his lessons aren't just something "off the shelf" from a music store. He continually worked to find what motivated me, helped shape musical goals, re-awakened an interest in Jazz, and inspired me to dig deeper into all aspects of music. Those studies directly helped with advanced placement at LA Music Academy."
Kevin Sven Berg
"Just a few words about Tim Quinn and his professionalism and generosity of spirit. Although I am a remedial student, Tim has never let that get in the way and is a devoted teacher with the patience of Jobe.
Tim has the expertise to take any student to whatever level they aspire too in any type of music, because he is a devoted student of the art itself who has no reluctance in sharing his lifetime knowledge of music and his love of such a beautiful instrument.
As long as I continue to play the guitar and have a quest for advancement, Tim will always be my first choice."
John Piscatella
"Tim is a great guitar player but more importantly to me he's a great teacher. I've been playing for a long time and had hit a long-term plateau. Tim organized my goals and established a lesson plans specifically designed to meet those goals. He taught me exactly what I wanted to learn. He loaded my up with tons of material; a few months of material from Tim will easily keep me busy for a year. Hearing Tim play and record the material right there in his teaching studio is so motivating. His use of technology rocks, such as recorded examples, backing tracks etc. His teaching studio is state of the art. Bottom line…Tim makes me a better guitarist."
Frank Pratte
"I have benefited greatly from lessons with Tim. I have been playing for many years and his ability to break down techniques and theory into easily understandable basics has made learning much easier. His patience and ability to help me improve have been great and the rest is up to me. There is always much to learn on the guitar. I highly recommend Tim for students at any level."
Ron Horvitz
"I was referred to Tim by a reliable source, and Tim has more than met my expectations for guitar instruction. It's one thing to be capable of playing most any style of guitar, and it's another to be a good teacher and mentor; the two are just not one and the same. Fortunately, Tim is both. Tim breaks things down for you into parts and pieces that are easy to digest and then helps you to see how that is going to fit into the bigger picture later. Whatever your interests are, (shredding, finger-picking, jazz, etc.) Tim is going to get you going in the direction that you need to achieve those ends.
"Hello Future guitarists. I first picked up the guitar a year ago with the hopes of an attempt to teach myself the basics through CD's and how-to guides and at times felt a little progress, but with time knew I needed a mentor, so I wrote out a list of characteristics I felt a qualified teacher should posses, to say the least my list was long and demanding. I'm in the military and details are my business.
"This testimonial might only be insightful to guitar novices. As of this writing, I’ve played guitar for just under 10 months. I had a teacher when I first started, but switched to Tim after one month of total confusion. I am very glad I switched otherwise I probably would have thrown in the towel early on.
"Tim is by far the best teacher I've ever had. He is extremely knowledgeable and diverse in every aspect of music. He has the ability to structure a program specific to each student's individual goals. In addition to his amazing playing ability he's also super cool guy. I highly recommend him for anyone interested in becoming a better musician."
Colin Farnell
"Tim Quinn is San Diego’s own ‘Guitar Guru’! I am a serious guitar player, and even play professionally sometimes. I studied guitar with four other teachers before I met Tim. Now, after studying with Tim for two years, those previous teachers seem like amateurs in comparison. Tim seems to be a master of all guitar styles, a professional performer with serious chops (jazz, rock, shred, blues, country, acoustic fingerstyle, etc.), and a master teacher on the level of a college professor.
