Guitar Instructor

DON MOORE, PhD

Don has over forty years of experience in music, beginning his studies with guitar at the age of five. He started teaching guitar at the age of sixteen, and has played professionally for over thirty years. He also studied the trumpet, which he played in the Eastern Ontario Concert Orchestra as a youngster, and studied Opera and vocal technique with Cleone Duncan and Henrietta Ash.

As a singer, Don has performed professionally in vocal ensembles, professional musical theatre, and with many different music groups in a range of styles. As a guitarist, Don has played and toured with numerous rock, jazz, and celtic groups, including the Mary Knickle Band. He has done studio recording work, played guitar in pit bands for professional theatre, done music arranging, and has played in a number of the major music festivals in Canada, including the Mariposa Festival, Summerfolk, the First Night Festival in Toronto, the Pearl Theatre in Nova Scotia, and on numerous television shows.

Don loves to teach guitar, and brings a wealth of professional performing experience to back up his instruction. His approach is to make guitar lessons fun, for example, by being open to teaching a student a simple arrangement of their favorite pop tune on the guitar that they can sing along to, while simultaneously instructing them in proper playing technique, music theory, and music reading skills in a number of different styles. In this way, the student gets to play something they love, while at the same time learning the necessary skills and techniques to eventually be able to teach themselves their favorite song, and play it correctly.