MEET JAKE
Jake recently left his profession in the legal world to get back to his passion of music. Jake has been playing music since childhood, but a few years back enrolled in music classes under the instruction of Brian Ebert and Conrad Kehn to take his music to a new level. He believes his students should take music seriously, but also incorporate a healthy balance of encouragement and having fun.
When not playing music, Jake enjoys watching sports, playing video games, learning as much as possible, eating pizza, and spending time/laughing with his wife Jessica, their tiny dog Gertrude, and Taco the cat.
Jake holds a BA in Sociology from Augustana University in Sioux Falls, SD. He completed many music courses at the Community College of Denver studying guitar, music theory, and audio production. Currently he is enrolled at Berklee Online pursuing a Master’s Degree in Music Production.
Jake also plays bass and sings backing vocals in the baddest, most raddest 90’s rock cover band in the world, Volume Plan. He also teaches a podcast class at Grace Art Camp in Portland, Oregon.
“Jake has a positive, encouraging, flexible, and easy-going style as a music instructor that has been a great fit for me as an adult learner in intermediate guitar and now songwriting. With Jake’s confidence boosting feedback, I have been writing and recording songs on guitar for the past year. As a producer, Jake is generous, collaborative, comfortable in a variety of musical styles, and patient with my not having any formal music training. Working with Gert Dog Studios has been a delight!” - Adult Guitar, Songwriting, and Production Student 2021
“Jake’s combined skill, experience, and love for music make him a highly qualified instructor. His passion for music is contagious, and inspires you to pursue dreams long ago forgotten. I have watched myself grow not only as a guitarist, but as a songwriter and producer, with the ability to release my own music confidently. He takes each lesson personally, and invests his time and patience into his student’s musical abilities. I have never met a collaborator more invested in the experience of creating music. Highly recommended.” - Adult Guitar, Songwriting, and Production Student 2021
“Jake is a wonderful teacher and human being. Every week, he meets our son (7 year old) for virtual lessons and asks how he is doing before they move onto lessons. Our son loves his lessons and his time with Jake - the virtual world does not take away from the experience. We look forward to many more lessons with Jake and would recommend him.” - Parent of 7 Year Old Drum Student 2021
“I would highly recommend Jake for private music lessons. My son started guitar lessons with him at age 8 years old and has been working with him for over a year. We started the lessons in-person before the pandemic and now have continued with online lessons, which is working very well. We could have changed to a new teacher at the time when Jake moved to a new city but luckily the online lessons were working, and we have been able to continue despite the long-distance teaching arrangement. Jake has a wonderful teaching style that is motivating for our son. Our son has progressed very quickly and many of my friends that hear him practice have commented about how fast he is learning. We feel very fortunate to have found such a wonderful teacher.” - Parent of 9 Year Old Guitar Student 2021