“As the founder of NYC Guitar School, I have a passion for coaching personal greatness and a powerful personal story to share.”
I'm really into three things: guitar, habits of greatness and being a dad. I'm the founder of New York City Guitar School. Our curriculum is based not just on how to play guitar, but on how to effectively learn and practice guitar--and I believe that these concepts carry over into all of life. That's why our school mission isn't "teaching guitar"--it's "coaching personal greatness--one lesson at a time." Students really like becoming their musical and personal best self--we've now taught over 10,000 students to successfully play guitar. We have also successfully pivoted our entire business to online as a result of the pandemic, and our virtual students log into their guitar classes from over 25 states.
I've written six books on guitar and on the habits of successful music students, including NYC Guitar School's Guitar For Absolute Beginners, which was an Amazon category best seller with nearly 200 5-star reviews, and The Ultimate Guitar Workbook: A Journal Of Personal Greatness One Lesson At A Time. I write blogs on deliberate practice, effective learning habits, and parenting resilient kids at NYCGuitarSchool.com/blog. I've mentored newer entrepreneurs since 2015 through the NYC Entrepreneurs Organization, of which I am a proud member. And I am a dynamic speaker to student groups and organizations about our individual power to learn and grow, and about the impact on our organizations of having a learning culture. And I don't just teach others how to learn more effectively--I'm also constantly seeking to improve my learning skills in guitar, juggling, parenting, time management, language skills and more.
I grew up home schooled in North Idaho. I attended the University of Idaho and Columbia University Teachers College, both on scholarship. In New York City, I gained extensive performing experience as a songwriter and guitarist for The Dan Emery Mystery Band before starting NYC Guitar School. I love spending time with my wife and three kids.
Some past topics:
"Harnessing Your Greatness with Dan Emery" Business for Unicorns Podcast (link attached]
"The Power Of Culture: It's Not Business, It's Just Personal"
"The Better You Practice The Better You Get" Exponentially Improve Your Practice Results By Understanding And Applying The Science of Deliberate Practice."
"Raising Kids Who Can Stand in the Wind"
"Doing vs Delegating: How to be a leader who inspires greatness in others"
"I can’t thank you enough for your keynote yesterday. You crushed it!!! I was fortunate to sit in the back of the room and saw you had the whole audience engaged, laughing and, more importantly, learning. You have an amazing story and really valuable insight and you nailed the presentation yesterday. The feedback I got was outstanding!"
--Anna Masker, Event Programmer, 2020 NYC Entrepreneurs Organization Accelerator Program
"Dan's presentation was such a great addition to our leadership program at Adelphi University. Dan is such a relatable, authentic speaker, and he instantly made all the students feel comfortable and excited to learn. His personal stories make his lessons and advice even more enjoyable, and we're so grateful to have had had him as part of our program!"
--Athena Bressack, Assistant Director of Student Involvement, Adelphi University
