Thank you for taking the time to check out my Website and Blog.  My name is Serge Pierro and I am a professional guitarist, instructor and author.  I intend to share my thoughts on various subjects and hope to provide you with some insights from someone who has practiced 12-16 hours a day, performed onstage, been hired for studio work, as well as a variety of other topics.  If there is something that you would be interested in knowing more about some musical topic, feel free to contact me and I’d be happy to write a Blog about it and hopefully share some pertinent thoughts with you.

  I started to play guitar in 1977 in my junior year in high school, quite by accident, as I was more interested in comic book art, medical school (surgeon) or being a scientist.  Like many of my generation, the band KISS is what led me to playing guitar.  This was because of my interest in comic book art and KISS appeared to be like “living comic book heroes” and I became fascinated by their concept.  Music at that time was something that I liked, but I had no real interest in playing an instrument.  I had taken drums and piano in elementary school, but neither one of them held my interest.  (Though years later I would wind up teaching both!). My exposure to music at that time was mainly what was on the radio and what my parents listened to.  My father listened to Jazz, in particular Benny Goodman, though he also had albums by Miles Davis and others.  My mother, who was a singer, though not professionally, was a big fan of Barbara Streisand and Broadway Musicals.

  Like most inexperienced guitarists, I played in various bands playing a variety of music.  Of course, for the most part, I sucked… But, the “siren’s call” of the guitar kept me interested in its pursuit.  Eventually I decided to get serious and dedicate myself to the instrument.  That was when I decided that in order to be a professional guitarist, I needed to approach it in the same manner.  I figured that if you had a 9-5 job doing something you went to school for, then I should be practicing at least 8 hours a day in order to prove to myself, and others, that I was serious in my pursuit.  Eventually that led to my 12-16 hours a day period.

  A major breakthrough was when I began studying with the legendary New York guitarist/teacher/author, Howard Morgen.  Howard had developed a curriculum that he used to teach all of the top local guitarists.  He was like an east coast version of Ted Greene.  This was during the time when I was starting to put in massive hours of practice and Howard picked up on that and took me under his wing and mentored me as someone who was serious about the instrument.  Howard was my first exposure to seeing someone playing multiple lines at once, ala Joe Pass and others.  He played a 7 string guitar that had the pickups split so the bass notes went to one side of the room and the higher notes went to the other side.  My mind was blown seeing this in action… to say nothing of the fact that he also hit the strings so that it sounded like a snare drum.  

  So, now that I’m 60 (that’s crazy!!) I realize that I’ve accumulated a lot of knowledge and theories that I want to share with a larger audience before I eventually “pass on”.  This website and my series of upcoming books will be the gateway in which I share some of this information and perhaps help the next generation of players in their quest towards reaching their full potential on the instrument.

  Serge