Study guitar with
Amanda Monaco
Enroll in Sonora Guitar Intensive and study 1-on-1 with Amanda Monaco for 3 months.
Receive lessons, daily feedback on your playing, and a clear path to fretboard fluency.
Limited Availability.
Amanda Monaco
Guitarist and educator
Guitarist/composer Amanda Monaco has performed at venues such as Jazz at Lincoln Center, Birdland, Jazz Standard and Flushing Town Hall, and with artists such as Milt Hinton, Steve Wilson, Rufus Reid, and theMingus Orchestra. She has released six albums to date and her current jazz projects include her eclectic quartet Deathblow, rambunctious organ quartet Glitter, and all-female jazz sextet Lioness. Her New Music ensemble The Pirkei Avot Project performs her original music with lyrics from selected verses (from a collection of rabbinical teachings with the same name) compiled in the third century C.E.
Amanda’s guitar playing is “well within the modernist canon, but quite distinctive: her phrasing is often made up of tartly dissonant chords and insistent yet off-kilter repetitions that remind one of Grant Green by way of Andrew Hill… her playing is utterly unique, a breath of fresh air in the cookie-cutter climes of both mainstream and free jazz.” (Clifford Allen, The New York City Jazz Record)
An educator since 1990, Amanda is an Associate Professor atBerklee College of Music where she teaches private instruction, labs and guitar ensembles. Amanda’s book, Jazz Guitar for the Absolute Beginner (Alfred Publishing), is available worldwide.
Amanda is the Artistic Director of Convergence Arts, Inc., a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization whose mission is to share the art and fun of improvisation with people of all ages. Since 2013, Convergence has received funding from the Queens Council on the Arts for myriad projects including the Six String Summit Guitar Festival, The Queens Jazz OverGround Spring Jazz Fest, and the Lioness: Women in Jazz concert series.
Amanda received her M.A.from The City College of New York in 2008. In her undergraduate years, Amanda studied with Ted Dunbar, Kenny Barron, Rufus Reid and Harold Mabern. She received her B.Mus fromWilliam Paterson University.
Sonora Guitar Intensive
Made for intermediate guitar players, Sonora is a 3-month intensive program that helps you break through multi-year plateaus and find your creative freedom.
Cutting Edge Software
Absorb, polish, and retain core concepts through accelerated learning and language acquisition techniques.
LIVE Masterclasses
Learn and engage with with industry-leading musicians 5 days per week in our live classes.
Streamlined feedback
Chat with your mentor in real-time. You’ll also get detailed feedback when you share videos of your guitar playing.
A modern approach to study
Unlike private lessons, Sonora's Fellowship students get unlimited access to feedback so learning and progress can happen every day – not just once a week.
THE OLD WAY
Traditional weekly lessons
Students met with an instructor for just an hour, once a week. For the remainer of that week, students were more likely to practice bad habits and progress slowly.
THE MODERN WAY
Sonora's anytime framework
Students get unlimited access to a mentor, 7 days a week. Along with a custom daily practice plan, forward progress can happen rapidly and at any time.
A clear path to
fretboard fluency
Our curriculum helps you achieve a complete understanding of the foundations of music, regardless of your playing style.
Over 20 years experience
Developed by deeply experienced music educators, our comprehensive curriculum identifies the key skills required to advance your musicianship.
Successfully tested by thousands
Our curriculum is proven. Over a thousand Sonora students have successfully broken through their learning plateaus and unlocked fretboard fluency.
Years of study condensed into months
Our students make more progress in 3-6 months of intensive study in our program than most students make in several years.
Grow with our community
Sonora connects you with other intermediate guitar players pursuing creative fluency.
Our community is a great place to find practice buddies, share progress, get feedback, and cheer each other on — all with the support of the whole Sonora team.
Apply NowOur Program
Join our industry leading guitar intensive program with Amanda Monaco guiding you every step of the way.
BY APPLICATION ONLY
Sonora Guitar Intensive
Included with the program:
- Unlimited access to Amanda Monaco
- 1-on-1 lessons w/ Amanda Monaco*
- Daily video feedback on your playing
- Custom practice plans
- Membership to our community
- Lifetime access to our core curriculum
- Lifetime access to our learning software
*Pricing depends on duration of study and lesson frequency, apply for a quote.
Not quite intermediate yet?
Check out our Prep Program for beginners