Teaching
I teach guitar lessons out of my studio (Xander Naylor Guitar Studio) at the VT Music Lab (217 Pearl St., Essex Junction, VT). I serve the greater Burlington, Vermont area (including Burlington, South Burlinton, Colchester, Williston, Essex, Shelburne, and Charlotte, Vermont) and also offer virtual lessons for those outside of the area who are eager to shape their craft.
With my guitar students, I focus on working with their specific interests and abilities. I meet my students where they're at, and then work with them in their lessons to help them become the best version of the musician they want to be. With beginners, I develop a foundation of technique and theory while also learning songs. Folk, rock, jazz, and classical styles may all be covered, as well as ear training, rhythm, and Indian classical music (Hindustani) which I have studied with world-renowned tabla maestro Samir Chatterjee since 2008. I attended the University of Vermont (Burlington, VT) and The New School for Jazz in New York City (BFA in Jazz Guitar), and hold an MFA from Goddard College (Plainfield, VT).
I have over 25 years of private teaching experience, and have conducted workshops both in the US and abroad, including at The New School for Jazz (NYC), Columbia University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Global Music Institute (Delhi, India), Sikkim University (Gankgtok, India).
Please e-mail to learn more or to setup your first guitar lesson: contact@xandernaylor.com
Subjects Covered
Chord-melody
Composition
Ear Training (incl. transcription)
Improvisation
Music Theory
Playing with others/accompaniment
Practice Habits
North Indian Hindustani scales (raga) and rhythms (tala)
Reading Music
Rhythm
Technique (incl. ergonimics)
Testimonials
Xander Naylor is a phenomenal guitarist and teacher. Compared to other teachers I’ve worked with over the past decade, Xander’s approach is unique. He has terrific observational skills, focusing on technique, posture, and musicality all at once. Sometimes we work from written music, other times we focus on improvisation. He often makes suggestions on when and how to practice, including when to give it a little rest. We’ve touched on multiple different styles, and Xander frequently enriches our sessions with brief, fascinating lessons about the history of music structure, ranging from classical to jazz.
B.Z.
Xander Naylor is a great teacher. He is attentive, energetic, creative, and very well studied on the guitar. I am a gigging musician in Burlington, Vermont, and the lessons I’ve taken with Xander over the past year and a half have helped my playing tremendously! I have refined my technique, gotten great insight into being a professional musician, been exposed to awesome new (to me) music, and been pushed out of my comfort zone regularly. He is kind, focused, engaging, interested, and will push you to go farther as a player. He a great choice to study guitar playing with.
W.S.
I’ve taken lessons with Xander for almost two years, starting as a beginner with only a couple months of self-taught playing with the guitar. He is a talented and skilled teacher and instrumentalist, keenly assessing his students’ abilities while listening to their long-term goals to steer their tutelage. On top of that, he’s an empathetic and kind person who knows when to push you when you need it and understands when life gets in the way and progress slows. This level of support and encouragement alone was enough to keep me coming back to lessons week after week rather than canceling due to a self-determined stagnation in performance.
Over these two years, Xander has taught me several guitar techniques (both acoustic strumming, fingerstyle, and electric guitar) which has allowed me to build up chops to play for longer periods of time without hurting myself (this is often skipped by non-academic teachers!). We’ve built out a repertoire of warm-up exercises and practice pieces that have formed the foundation for learning more complicated songs enabling me to learn them faster.
Admittedly, as a scientist, I really enjoy the theoretical discussions and Xander is more than happy to indulge me with his deep and wide understanding of both western and eastern music theory. All in all, I’ve really enjoyed taking lessons as both a stress-reliever and an intellectually stimulating practice. I can’t recommend him enough as a teacher and as a human. 10/10, five stars.
T.W.
Xander is an extremely thorough and attentive teacher. He is also very intuitive, which means each lesson will be perfectly curated to what you as a student need to improve. He has a strong expertise in Hindustani classical music and Black American Music, as well as many other genres which are evident in his wisdom as a musician. His range of knowledge means that you will be having lessons that challenge you and expand your ear and technique. He is extremely attentive and I love working with him!
L.S.