From arena stages to your living room.

A letter from our founder

Why I started Stage Pass

I've made my living as a guitarist for most of my life. By fourteen I was working my way through Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Hendrix and Van Halen. At twenty-one I was in Japan as lead guitarist for Utada Hikaru, one of the best-selling artists in Japanese history. In 2006 I became music director and guitarist for RBD on a promotional tour. In 2008 I joined Scott Stapp, the voice of Creed, writing songs, playing lead guitar and touring the world with his band, including an Armed Forces Entertainment tour for American troops in Djibouti, Kuwait, Bahrain, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, and a show on the deck of the USS Ronald Reagan. I've also played lead guitar for Course of Nature and played lead guitar and written songs for Madison Rising.

Here's what all of that taught me about teaching: the people who made me better were working musicians who could explain what they knew. They showed me how players actually practice, how to listen, how to fix a problem in five minutes instead of five months, and how to walk on stage without your hands shaking. That kind of teacher changes a student's life. And most families never get one. They get whoever happens to be free at the store on Tuesday at four.

Atlanta is full of musicians like that. They play in session rooms, churches, theatre pits, jazz clubs and touring bands, and many of them are gifted teachers. What they don't have is time to market themselves, chase invoices and juggle schedules. So I built a company to do that part, and to hold every one of them to the standard I'd want for my own family.

Why we don't have a building

A strip-mall studio would make every family drive across town in Atlanta traffic, and it would force great teachers into tiny rooms on someone else's schedule. Instead, the teacher comes to you, or you go to their own studio, a real musician's space with real gear, or you meet online. The money that would go to rent goes to better teachers and fair prices.

My promise to you

• I personally audition every teacher before they join. Playing well isn't enough; they have to teach well, and we watch them do it.
• Every teacher passes a background check before they meet a student, and a parent is home for every lesson with a minor.
• Prices are published, there's no registration fee or long-term contract, and your first lesson is guaranteed: love it, or we rematch you free or refund you.
• If something isn't right, you can reach me. This is my name on the door.

Music gave me a life I never could have planned. I'd love to help it do the same for your family.

Alex Bodnar

Founder, Stage Pass Music