Dan Buller

Over the past decade, I have performed in a variety of bands and styles on guitar, dobro, pedal steel, mandolin, and banjo. As a performer I primarily focus on jazz, gypsy jazz, and bluegrass. I hold a Master’s degree in jazz guitar performance from the University of Wyoming where I studied under Ryan Fourt (guitarist) and Ben Markley (pianist). 

I began teaching in 2010 and have taught students on a variety of different instruments including guitar, dobro, pedal steel, mandolin, banjo, and ukulele. I enjoy teaching many styles including jazz, blues, bluegrass, rock, country, and fingerstyle guitar. I particularly enjoy teaching ear training and music theory to interested students.

As an educator I believe in tailoring my curriculum to each specific student rather than using a cookie cutter approach. I understand that different genres require different skills/techniques and will work to streamline lesson plans to get students to achieve their playing goals as quickly as possible. The skills required to be a proficient bluegrass musician are far different than those needed to be a jazz musician, so I specifically devise exercises and song choices based upon the students' interests. I place a high level of importance on learning songs and using them as vehicles to incorporate scales, chord voicings, and other theoretical concepts into them. With the abundance of online resources available today it is easy for aspiring musicians to become overwhelmed, which makes honing in on the most efficient approach vital!

I like to practice with a metronome clicking at different subdivisions to help strengthen the way I hear time. For example: letting the metronome click on quarter notes, then half notes, then whole notes, while utilizing the same overall tempo.

Rock: Lynyrd Skynyrd

Jazz: Wynton Kelly

Blues: Blind Boy Fuller

Bluegrass: JD Crowe and The New South

Country: Merle Haggard

“Perfect” practice makes perfect.

I started playing guitar at the age of eleven and was inspired by punk rock music as an adolescent. During this period of time I took lessons to build some fundamentals and technique on the instrument. As the years progressed my taste for genres and instrumentation evolved. I began playing squareneck dobro in my late teens and branched out to many other instruments and styles from there.