Derrick Campbell

I’ve been playing the guitar for twenty-eight years now, and studied with a variety of teachers including Bob Ferguson (a classical guitarist) and Michael Harris (a platinum selling metal guitarist).   I began teaching guitar lessons when I was a sophomore at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.   I graduated with a B.A. in Communications and then moved to the Boston area in 1997 and began working full time as a guitar teacher within a few months.  Since then, I’ve also played in a variety of original and cover bands, and written and recorded a number of songs of my own. 

I have a full schedule of students from all over the country taking lessons with me.  I have students in my home state of Pennsylvania, and also in the Mid-West, and in the western states of Idaho, Washington, and California.  I also do in-person lessons and have been teaching group classes at the Community Arts Center in Wallingford, PA.

I'm currently playing performing a few times a month with two bands - Route One which is an acoustic duo, and the Garage Bandits which is a classic rock band.  Prior to the pandemic, I played in a cover band called Element 78. We played out every weekend, and have played at places like the Hard Rock Cafe at Foxwoods Casino, and the Boston Harborfest Concert at City Hall Plaza. The singer and I did acoustic shows as well, which were a lot of fun.  Last year, I contacted the singer in an original band I was in 25 years ago, and we started collaborating on recording the songs we did back then and started working some new songs.  He’s in Virginia, so we’ve been doing collaborating with online recording and using session drummers from Airgigs.com.  In 2022 we put out an album called Blue Sky Lightning which can be found on Spotify.

Why take lessons from me?

If you want a teacher who is going to tell you what songs to play to achieve your goals, but also be flexible about you requesting songs, you'll enjoy taking lessons with me. If you request a song, and I think it's too hard, then I'll look for some other songs by that band that might work.  When it comes to technique, I know how I want students to play, but I'm patient with them mastering the technique.  I'll teach you theory as it's needed, but mostly the focus is going to be on playing, and learning the basics while having fun with guitar.

Also, if you're looking for a teacher for your kids, one thing I would mention is that I have two sons, ages 7 and almost 3 (as of December 2024).  For the past 4 years I've had the joy and privilege of taking care of them during the day and then teaching guitar at night.  Raising two kids and teaching both of them how to read and write has given me a much better understanding of how to teach children younger than 10.

Places I taught in the past

Music Maker Studios in Brighton, MA This is where I taught most of my private guitar lessons, teaching adults and kids.  We did a recital once a year in the summer, and I had a lot of students participate.  I started teaching there in 1997 and stayed on through 2021.

Boston Center For Adult Education at 122 Arlington Street in Boston.  I did group classes here on Wednesdays for beginners from 2006 to 2020.  I offered a beginner class and three different level two classes.

Noble and Greenough School in Dedham, MA.  I taught private guitar lessons to the middle and high school students during the day.  I worked here from 2003 to 2020.

What you'll get in taking lessons with me:
1) Personalized lessons using songs you want to learn along with songs I think would be good for you to learn, based on your ability.
2) Patience and encouragement - mistakes are part of the learning process and will be addressed in a supportive manner
3) Fun, but also disciplined.  Scales are part of the learning process early on, and students are expected to make steady progress.
 

The are four basic levels to which I try to develop students’ ability.

1) In the beginning, I focus on getting students comfortable with the instrument, showing them some songs they’ll have fun with, and developing the dexterity in their hands. You’ll get a huge amount of help from in learning songs as I’ll give you sheet music, play along with you, and basically talk you through being able to play the song.

2) Once you’re comfortable learning songs with that amount of help, I’ll start giving you sheet music and asking you to take it home and try to teach yourself as best you can, and then go over questions or problems you may have the next week.

3) When you’re able to teach yourself songs from sheet music, then I’ll start giving you some easy songs to try to learn by ear. I’ll give you some hints in the beginning about what chords are used, or what key the song is in, but eventually I’ll take the training wheels off and throw you in the pool, so to speak, and make you learn the songs by ear, and then tell you if you learned them correctly or not. Obviously, we’ll do some ear training exercises to improve your ability to learn songs by ear.

4) Finally, once you’re comfortable learning songs by ear and learning songs from sheet music, you’re ready to take the leap into improvising your own solos, playing at open mic nights and coffee houses, writing your own songs, or trying to get into a cover band. Beyond this, you’re on your own – I haven’t figured out a secret formula to becoming a rock star.