Owen Reilly
About
Owen Reilly is a versatile guitarist and vocalist with over 20 years’ experience in rock, metal, blues, and country, with added fluency in many other genres. He performs with the Los Angeles metal band Felon 13, regularly performs with the country-rock-blues-jazz group RMS Trio, and plays solo at weddings, parties, and events. Owen is a former guitar/vocal instructor and musical director for the ‘School of Rock’ franchise in Los Angeles. As a teacher, Owen tailors lessons in fundamentals, theory, technique, and songs to help students—from beginners to pros—reach their goals efficiently.
Teaching Style
The goal is to tailor each lesson to the individual to make sure it optimized to meet their goals, while also making it enjoyable. Regardless of if a student is a beginner or an advanced player, it's crucial to understand the fundamentals and vocabulary associated with being a solid country, blues, rock or metal player. Consistency and exploring different musical genres will make the best and most original players, which is what I aim to accomplish for my students.
Curriculum
I'll begin a first lesson with the following items and questions:
- What struck your interest in guitar?
- Are you brand new to the instrument or have some experience? Have you taken lessons before?
- Who are some of your influences in guitar or music in general?
- What do you know about the guitar and/or can you play some music for me to show where you are at?
- Let's learn a song you want and find some introductory items to learn associated with that song!
Regardless of level of player, there are going to be several pieces that are essential to becoming to a solid player. That includes but is not limited to:
- basic open chords, riffs, tuning, and knowledge of the physical instrument
- Music theory vocabulary: What is a major, minor, a 'bend', 'pull-off', scale, chord, arpeggio, etc.
- Use of the metronome during daily practice
- Pentatonic Scale
- CAGED system
Country and Blues styled playing includes all of the items above but is more specialized to certain scales and techniques:
- Technique related exercises, strumming patterns and synchronization of the strumming hand.
- Active listening: learning songs by ear
- Understanding the Major scale and associated variations of that scale (Minor, Minor 7th, Dominant 7th, Minor 7th b5)
- Soloing over Chord tones
- Introductory common Country and Blues riffs
- Sliding Pentatonic Scale
- Pedal-Steel Guitar Licks
- 6th and 3rd related guitar licks
- Hybrid Picking, Chicken Picking, Alternate Picking, Sweep Picking
- "Jimi Hendrix" riffs
Credentials & Affiliations
School of Rock: Guitar/Bass/Vocal Instructor and Show Director July 2022- September 2023 West Los Angeles, CA/Pasadena, CA/Venice, CA
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Responsible for instruction and application of music theory, cover songs, techniques and practice routines for students ranging from under ten years of age to above forty years of age.
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Highly effective and relatable in communicating with all stakeholders in the educational process.
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Director for show program/band rehearsal classes for novice, experienced and advanced students.
Felon 13- metal: Guitarist/Vocalist and founder of three piece metal group in Los Angeles starting in 2022 until present. Our group has performed at shows and concerts all around Southern California and on the East Coast in New York/New England. We blend metal, southern rock, blues, country and progressive rock.
RMS Trio- country-blues-rock-jazz: Regular sit-in guitarist and singer with highly acclaimed local cover trio in Los Angeles. Players include Alex Rusbarsky, Ryan Meagher and Matt Saunders.
Desert 5 Yall-Star Revue Artist- Country-Rock: Regular sit-in guitarist and singer at leading country venue in Los Angeles. Players in the house band include Jimmy Cormier, Ryan Posner, Matt Lesser.
*My most recent instructor was one the most highly acclaimed instructors in Los Angeles, Travis Raab, who has recorded for numerous mainstream commercials and advertisements, and has played with Katy Perry, Sia, Ellie Goulding, Diplo and Jake Owen.