Steve Smyth

As a performer, Steve has accomplished the following: Former lead guitarist for Vicious Rumors (1995-1999), Testament (1999-2004), Dragonlord (2000-2005), Nevermore (2002-2007), and Forbidden (2009-2012, 2023-present), currently busy with his own band One Machine (2014-present), as well as progressive rock fusion duo The EssenEss Project (1993-present), and is STILL a member of the Bay Area’s longest running Black Sabbath/Ozzy Osbourne tribute, Sweet Leaf (1994-present)!

Steve has been teaching professionally since 1986, a career that has seen him span from private teaching 40-60 students weekly in the Bay Area for for nearly 20 years (1989-2006), before relocating to London, England, and beginning a music college teaching career that spanned nearly a decade, during which time Steve received a PGCE (UK post masters teaching qualification). Through this decade long experience, Steve was able to see his previous experience of preparing students for music college come to fruition in the shape of teaching various classes in 3 different UK music colleges (BIMM Brighton, ICMP London, and ACM Guildford, all university level accredited to full MA level), as well as having a hand in writing coursework. Steve has written and taught several Metal Workshop courses across these colleges that were well received. In addition to this, Steve was one of the first rock guitarists to develop and begin a live internet teaching business, something he has maintained consistently for the last 17 years going.

In addition to being a guitar and music teacher, Steve has had a distinguished career in the heavy metal music industry. 

Steve co-wrote and recorded albums with Vicious Rumors, Dragonlord, Nevermore, Forbidden, One Machine, The EssenEss Project, From Hell, and has also maintained a solid session roster for many independent artists worldwide, over the last 3 decades. 

A former columnist for Guitar World Magazine (co-writer of Merchants Of Menace column with Jeff Loomis across 2006), Steve has occasionally written for GuitarWorld.com, amongst other sites, and also released an instructional series of lessons on JamPlay.com in 2011. Steve returned to the Bay Area at the end of 2017 to teach once again, and continues to expand his resume in both the performance/recording and educational areas.

Steve takes a direct approach to teaching one to one lessons, assessing a student’s goals and abilities, and designing a personalized program for them,  as well as providing email correspondence between lessons and all material used during the lesson in pdf and audio/video format.