Ray's teaching practice offers private and group instruction in guitar, bass, vocals, keyboard, saz, oud, home recording and others... Master classes, "SUNDAY JAM SESSIONS", Band "Tune-ups" (to prepare for shows and/or recording), and recording for college (auditions, scholarship, placement) as well as personal recordings are also available and prepare our students for REAL musical situations. Whether you wish to pursue a formal music education, be a great musician and/or producer in a band to tour the world, or be the "guitar god" of your own room, we can accommodate your needs.

- Learn how to play your favorite songs by ear

- Technique, theory, chords, scales, improvising, ear training, reading and much more.

- All styles: Metal, Blues, Jazz, R&B, Classic Rock, World, Funk, Punk, Fusion and others.

- Write arrange, produce & record your own music.

- Pre-production/recording band workshops, home recording & band "TUNE UPS".

- CollegePrep/Scholarship studies and recording.


*If you received our mailing please call the number on the card.

World Music Excursion

As Ray has traveled the world to such wondrous places as Japan, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, India, Nepal, Brazil, Venezuela, the Bahamas, Mexico, and most of the United States, he has acquired the knowledge of a traveler in search of new cultures and new knowledge of the world around him. His nature is one of an open and caring soul, which has enabled him to develop such precious friendships worldwide. With the promise to return and share the true nature of the worlds' peoples and cultures, he and his guests will be accepted back with open arms. From Tibetan Buddhist monks in Nepal, India, and Bhutan to world renown dancers and musicians in Brazil, with Eco-friendly plantation/preserve owners in Jamaica, to a dream come true culture school in Africa, the greatest artists and dancers in Venezuela, and the list goes on and on….. It is all on the table for you…

Ray attributes the greatest and most significant changes/ life lessons to the above-mentioned places with the people and cultures of the land. It is far too infrequent that we are SINCERELY in touch with our world. Television is but a two-dimensional painting that offers us some information, between commercials, but not a TRUE LIFE EXPERIENCE. Reading a book doesn't allow you to fully hear, see, smell, taste, and feel the land you are in and shake the hand of a new friend many miles from home. "I have lifelong international friends and in this day and age of the internet, the possibility to continue a close lifelong friendship with a person who lives in the foothills of the Himalayas is a reality". Ray continues, "The experiences that I have been blessed with have enabled me to walk down the street with a much deeper respect and understanding of everything that is around me. New meanings for everything have manifested: the way I eat, shower, talk to people, acknowledge nature, read, listen to music, think globally, appreciate a sidewalk, and even the clothes I buy. Nuances! Mountains have moved inside me from experiencing how the people I have met simply go about their average day. How much more grateful and aware I am for what I have. As much as I value planned trips with the family to a hotel with a commercial tour guide, it has never even scratched the surface of what it was like to spend a day in a monks house in Nepal. You can't even begin to imagine, without experiencing it first hand, the impact it had on my life to listen to their stories, share their food, their home, and my own personal experiences in a completely unplanned setting. I could never have been thrown into a major Carnival procession in Brazil, my body fully painted by the capitals most renown artist, and dancing and singing with ONLY locals if I had been watching it from afar in a group that was doing things by the book!"

Ray would like to share his friends and knowledge of his travels to you by offering the life experience of visiting the world. As a musician, the majority of these trips will be focused on studying the music, dance, and the cultural arts of the regions you will visit. You will also be encouraged to offer an exchange of your knowledge and talents of our culture as well, ensuring a most well rounded experience and building bonds and bridges that you will forever cherish and may one day pass on to your children.

A typical day set in Bahia, Brazil might include waking up to a homemade traditional breakfast, joining a 1-2hr. Samba music/dance workshop followed by some free time before the Capoiera class (traditional non-contact Brazilian martial art) and then on to an incredible buffet style lunch. After lunch perhaps we will take a walk to Mercado Modelo, the areas major shopping/crafts center, to shop and/or learn how to make a berimbau, a shekere, or a caxixi (traditional instruments) and then go hang out on the beautiful beach within walking distance. Then lets have dinner and get ready for the nightly concerts and entertainment that is plentiful in the capital of Salvador. That is but scratching the surface as there will be many excursions to beautiful nearby islands, waterfalls, natural waterslides, nature trips and cultural exchanges allowing us to interact with the locals Ray knows as friends. Most of these trips will be preceded by an open house/orientation and video preview (when available) of the location and, upon return, will be followed by a party/"show and tell" from all of the participants of the trip.
If you are interested in traveling with us please submit the form below and we will send you information and updates for future excursions.