About Utah

Hi there! My friends call me Utah and I help humans make their best music.

I love music and I bet you do, too. Music is important. Like most art, music is collaborative. It’s a team sport and a beautiful part of our shared human experience. We can express emotions through music we don’t have words for. And let me tell you, as a person with a lot of feelings, musical expression is a super duper helpful outlet.

Life is hard. Therapy is expensive. Enjoy music. But seriously, therapy is worth it.

A little about me as a player:

I mostly play melodic rock and blues with a lot of influence from American roots and jazz music. Some examples of my playing are on my Portfolio page. I love listening to all styles and try to learn as much as I can from all of them. I compose, record, and perform my own music, play in cover bands, teach and coach others, and embrace my role as a perpetual student always learning new things.

A little about me as a teacher and coach:

I love helping musicians grow. No matter where you are on your journey, I’d love to help you make progress. I approach music as a life long endeavor. I can teach you specific tools and concepts, build you a customized practice plan to master them, and coach you along the way with one on one or group lessons.

I injured my hand playing too much when I was in my early 20s which made me take a long break from music. After 15 years of intermittent playing, I picked the guitar back up as a more serious, daily practice. This experience gave me some insight into a bunch of challenges busy people face when trying to squeeze music into their schedules, especially:

• Deciding how and what to practice when you have limited time
• Breaking bad habits and replacing them with new, more efficient techniques
• Important basics like how to hold and play the guitar in a more comfortable, ergonomic way
• Dealing with persistent injuries

Topics I’m most passionate about teaching are:

• Guitar specific topics:
• • Guitar technique all the way from the basics to advanced legato and speed picking techniques
  • Guitar fretboard mastery that allows you to play chords, scales, and arpeggios freely anywhere on the neck
  • Staying relaxed and avoiding unnecessary tension while playing
• Topics relevant to any instrument:
  
  • Improvisation with special emphasis on navigating chord changes
  • Applied music theory
  • Songwriting and composition