Here are some of our favorite pages:

• Savvy Lessons
• Eric Byrd
• Brent Birckhead
• Doug Elliott
• Chuck Levins
• Greg Boyer
• Paul Carr

Smart Shorties

With the first day of school only days away, parents across the DC area are trying

to ease their kids from the carefree fun of summer to the academic rigors of a new

school year. But getting kids to want to learn doesn’t have to be like pulling teeth.

Students across the country have actually started to enjoy math and give their test

scores a boost with Smart Shorties, a program that puts multiplication facts and

fractions to popular hip-hop beats that kids already love.

Creator of Smart Shorties, Alex Nesmith

Years ago, I had the privilege of performing in a jazz band with the creator of Smart

Shorties, Alex Nesmith. Together, with me playing trumpet and Alex on the baritone

sax, we toured Asia and Europe making music, and we became fast friends in the

process. Alex went on to use his musical background to become a professional music

producer, working with artists like Charlotte Church, Keith Sweat, Chris Brown, and

Outkast.

Kids are Genuinely Excited to Learn Math 

But when he learned about the deficiencies American students have in math, Alex

became determined to use music as a tool to develop how students think and learn.

And with Smart Shorties, he’s done just that. Kids who use the program for four

or more months have shown a 67% increase in math facts fluency. Schools across

the country have implemented the program into their curriculums to improve test

scores. And kids are genuinely excited to learn math.

Making the World a Better Place through Music

At B&B, we’re particularly enthused about Smart Shorties because it mirrors our

mission of making the world a better place through music, one lesson at a time. And

we hope you’ll be interested in checking it out too. It’s the perfect way to get your

kids fired up about classes before they’ve even begun.

Brad Clements

Co-owner, B&B Music Lessons

If you learned about B&B Music Lessons online, chances are you can thank Stu Kushner for finding us! Owner of Progressive Office, Inc., Stu is an integral member of the B&B family as our SEO and IT expert for small business. This year, we celebrate the fifth year of our incredible partnership that’s helped B&B reach more students, and in turn make the world a better place through music.  

For our first two years, B&B worked with a foreign-based company for our SEO needs. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of making your web site more visible, and because we wanted a strong online presence, we were willing to pay outrageous monthly fees for quality service. But after two years of getting no results and having the company we hired blame us for our bad search engine ratings, we knew it was time for a change. And we decided to go with a local business. I wanted to do business face to face and not get burned again.

After a quick Google search, Stu popped up as the number one SEO person listed in Washington, DC. Number one, I thought, he must really have this SEO thing down. A few days later we met at what would become our usual lunch spot, Busboys & Poets at 14th and U.

After listening to what we wanted and asking a ton of questions about B&B, Stu made us an incredible offer. He would teach us everything he knew about SEO for less than what we’d paid our last company for just two months of work! Stu introduced us to helpful (and free!) online tools like Google Analytics and Wufoo Forms. He taught us that external links (like this) are good and that never posting content is bad. We also have learned to back up all of our sites regularly and Stu has made this a snap to do.

After putting Stu’s methods into practice, we got results! And in a few months, Stu’s help totally turned B&B around. Today, even though Bhagwan and I have gotten the basics, we still need Stu for special projects like our WordPress installation. And when we run into bumps in the road, like a broken plug-in or a faulty page, Stu’s super-responsive and usually fixes our issue in less than 24 hours. Stu has made numerous upgrades to our software including directing us to Firefox as our preferred browser to use.

Whether it’s work for hire or on a contract basis, I give Stu my highest recommendation for being honorable, dependable, and professional. Today, we get 50% more prospects every week due to his efforts alone! And with the goal of making the world a better place through music, that’s a pretty good place to start. But don’t just take my word for it, check out these testimonials from other customers.

Thanks for a terrific five years Stu! We couldn’t have done it without you.

Because music matters,
Brad

P.S. Looking for a great website design and effective Internet Marketing for your small business? Maybe Stu can help you too! Take a look at his services:

• Email Solutions
• Office and Commercial Cabling
• Printer Repair
• IT Support
• VoIP Phone
• Internet Marketing
• Website Design
• Internet Marketing Service Plans
• Analytics
• Contact Stu

Learn to Play Drums... like a rocker!

As YouTube, and America’s Got Talent has shown, that almost no one is too young to get their groove on. Does your child have what it takes to rock out? Let our B&B teachers find out with you!

Some people think learning violin is hard… YOU might not.

Carry the Torch—Learn a Classical Instrument, Like the Violin!

Testimonials

Ask mom to get you signed up for some music lessons—because music matters… And you’re never too young to rock!

As far as learning the guitar left handed, I would say this.  Being left handed myself, I learned the guitar and bass right handed and I am extremely grateful for this.  First of all, the guitar uses both hands and both are arguably equally important.  Both hands will be demanded to play unique and precise actions.  Both the picking hand and fretboard hand have important work to take care of.

In addition, most guitars are right handed and over the course of a lifetime, the number of guitars that one encounters will be right handed guitars.  It is a huge disadvantage for someone to not be able to sit in and borrow another guitar when visiting friends, etc.

In addition, if you choose to play left handed, you will be handicapped by lesson books, chord books and other material such as tablature that is printed for the right handed guitar.  And when you go to purchase a left handed guitar, you’ll find that the selection is severely limited.  If you’re lucky, one out of ten guitars at the store will be left handed.  So you’ll have to be much less picky about styles, colors, etc.   If you choose to buy your dream guitar and have it reconfigured as a left handed guitar, this will certainly cost you a pretty penny.  Or you can play it upside down like Albert Collins, but this has it’s own group of issues since the strumming sounds different and fingerpicking is essentially impossible (with the thumb playing the melody).

Think about the piano.  There are plenty of left handed piano players and they use both hands to play their instrument.  I recommend playing the guitar right handed, as your musical life will be much simpler and you’ll still have the same musical potential.

B&B Music Lessons provides guitar teachers that can teach both left handed or right handed guitar, so we support your decision either way!

B&B Music Lessons is a Washington DC small business which has been in service since 2005.  Our primary goal is to provide in home music lessons to the DC community and surrounding areas.  Its founders are Brad Clements and Bhagwan Khalsa.  Both are DC natives and are professional musicians, dedicated to sharing the joy of music through performance and education.

B&B’s focus is on bringing together a community of music teachers who can be reliable and effective yet still fun and ‘hip’.  Lessons with B&B should be fun and engaging while still learning the fundamentals of music.   We strive for our students to be excited about learning music, and we make it easy to try.

Our lessons take place in the homes of our students in DC, Maryland and Virginia and we do our best to accommodate your busy schedule.  With no long term commitments, you can get started any time.

Contact B&B Music Lessons for the perfect teacher!