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Caring, Experienced, Responsive
Guitar Instruction
in Berkeley, Marin, and Sonoma County, CA
with Kay Eskenazi, J.D., Ph.D.

Kay loves to play and teach! Her goal is to help you find your unique voice on the guitar. She teaches nylon string and steel string acoustic guitar in many styles, including:
  • Fingerstyle
  • Swing Jazz
  • Brazilian Jazz
  • Guitar Ensemble
  • Bossa Nova
  • Celtic
  • Pop
  • Classical
  • Acoustic Rock
  • Alternate Tunings
  • Arranging for Guitar
  • Songwriter Help
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Students of all ages and levels of experience are welcome!
Please tell me what styles of  music you want to learn (if you know), your level of experience on the guitar and any other instrument you play, and where you live. I'll reply telling you which days I teach in your area. I look forward to helping you learn to play!

Here's What My Students Say:

We love Kay Eskanazi! I first met her at her wonderful guitar camp for women and have had her as my guitar teacher for the last 2 1/2 years. I can't believe how far I've come in that time! Kay has a knack for intuitively figuring out how to best reach her students. My children began lessons with her a year and a half ago. My daughter is 10, my son is 8--they adore her and appreciate her gentle nature. For my daughter, Kay has studied and brought her over 8 songs by Train and Adele in order to teach her various strumming patterns with songs she loves.
My son's endorsement: "she's nice, a good teacher, but not mean, you get to pick your own songs. I like her!"
My daughter's: "Kay is going to be my guitar teacher for the rest of my life"
Kay feels like family, but always maintains her professionalism.
B.G., Marin
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Hi Kay, I really enjoyed my lesson yesterday. You are such a good teacher -- you make it fun and interesting and challenging too, which is not easy to do! You are really encouraging, but not hesitant to be direct about mistakes or things I could be executing better, which I really appreciate. Also you don't make me feel guilty when I haven't been able to put in much practice time. I feel so lucky that I found you.
S.M., Berkeley
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Dear Kay, I feel so lucky to have found you. You are one of the most thoughtful and giving people I have ever met. Thank you so much for your thoughts. I don't know of any other teacher who would have spent the time and energy to explain the process.  Thank you so much for that. I love the process and love getting there, frustration and all. You are right about me having music in my soul. Thank you so much for opening your heart and knowledge to me. Love and best wishes back at you.
J.K., Sonoma County
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Beginners: Learn basic chord fingerings, easy songs, music reading, fingerpicking styles, and music theory. Kay is patient, supportive and thorough.

Jazz Styles (including Swing Jazz, Brazilian Jazz, and Bossa Nova): Learn jazz chords to accompany singing and other instruments. Learn the principles of reharmonization and chord substitution. Learn right hand technique for Bossa Nova, Swing and Chord Melody playing. Learn advanced chord theory.

Fingerstyle: Explore the beauty of instrumental guitar music and learn fingerstyle pieces from Blues, Celtic, Folk, and Brazilian traditions. Learn special right and left hand techniques used in fingerstyle playing, and learn how to use alternate tunings.

Celtic: Learn songs from the British Isles. Kay's Celtic repertoire includes gorgeous songs with guitar accompaniment, and instrumental guitar tunes in DADGAD and standard tunings.

Classical and Ensemble Playing: Learn how to read and play pieces from Renaissance, Baroque, Classical and Contemporary periods. Join the Guitar Ensemble!
                                                                                            Email Kay
Kay Eskenazi has been playing guitar since she was eight -- that was 48 years ago. She plays many fingerstyle guitar forms in regular and non-standard tunings. Most recently, she has been playing Brazilian jazz -- especially the music of Luiz Bonfį, Laurindo Almeida, Joćo Gilberto, Carlos Barbosa-Lima, and Antonio Carlos Jobim.  Kay also likes to play the music of John Renbourn, Stefan Grossman, Pierre Bensusan and Laurence Juber. She has studied with many fine teachers, and continues her studies at every opportunity.

She co-founded and co-directs From Women's Hearts and Hands Guitar Camp. She teaches at junior colleges, offers private guitar lessons, and directs the Good Life Guitar Ensemble.

Kay is also founder and director of Pass It Around!, a non-profit organization that uses group singing to support homeless and other disadvantaged people. She has been collecting and teaching rounds for twenty years, and recently published Pass It Around! Rounds from the Soul of a World -- a collection of rounds and a cappella harmony songs from many lands and centuries.

Email Kay