Coyote Music, Inc. was founded towards the end of the second millennium with the goal of providing students of the guitar and bass with the highest level of personal instruction possible. Our instruction studio is located in the Gyrodyne Industrial Campus, also known as Flowerfield, in St. James NY. Our address is:

Coyote Music Inc.
1 Flowerfield, Suite 6
St. James NY 11780
phone (631) 521-7059

Our goal is to instruct you, the student, in the skills necessary to allow you to play the music you wish to play. These skills (and the subsequent flow of most lessons) are addressed as:
* technique
* information
* application.
 
Technique is the skill of the hands and body. How do we physically hold the instrument? Where do we put our thumb? Does the tip of the finger go here, or over here? And why do I get an ache in my lower back whenever I play? These are the kinds of problems we address when we hone the skill of the hands and body. Our approach to technique prepares the musician for the best possible way to play in a wide variety of situations – a “resting place,” if you will, from which the musician acts. Reliable technique transcends style and performance.
 
Information is the skill of the mind. What’s the name of that note? Why is an F# diminished seventh chord the same as an A diminished seventh chord? Do I need to learn how to read music? The skill of information begins with the naming of sounds and the written record of those names, and grows to include pattern recognition and the ability to think ahead and make creative leaps in playing. At Coyote Music, the instructor can call upon a wide variety of resources to guide the student through the most basic skills of music notation to the most advanced subtleties of improvisation. Guitar instruction books and magazines are always available, as are numerous lessons prepared in advance by the instructors themselves. Other instruction books and music may be used when appropriate, such as the Hanon book for piano, Bach’s Inventions and Sonatas and Partitas, The Real Book, Jamey Abersold’s numerous instructional CD’s and books, etc.

Application is the skill of the heart. What is it that I love to hear? Can I hear myself playing what I love? Do I really want to play the guitar when it all seems so hard and hopeless? How can I ever stop playing when everything else seems so hard and hopeless? Simply put, the skill of application begins by focusing on what the student wants to learn – songs, new chords, challenging licks, marketable skills – and grows to address how the student will apply themselves and their musical skills to their world.

We begin by using our hands to grasp what we need. Over time, we name what we grasp so that we may share it with others, and make new discoveries through others’ sharing. And all along we feel the needing, the sharing and the discovering as living. How can you not want to play the guitar?

For more information about Coyote Music, please contact us here.

About Our Instructors…


Douglas Baldwin is the founder and director of Coyote Music. His advanced musical studies include Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles (1973) and private study with Carmine D’Amico (1980-1983), John Scofield (1981), and Robert Fripp's Guitar Craft Seminars (1985-present). He has worked professionally with numerous Long Island-based musicians including Wes Houston (1978-1980) and Kim Strongin (1980-1982) and was employed by the Steven Scott Orchestras from 1982 to 1990. He currently performs with the Rhythm Kings. Other professional activities include the establishment of Coyote Guitars, a repair and custom guitar shop; and extensive work as a freelance writer in such publications as The Music Paper, Music and Sound Retailer, and Guitar World. From 2000 to 2007, Douglas was Associate Editor of GuitarOne Magazine, where he wrote and recorded product reviews, performance notes for song transcriptions, the monthly column “Acoustic Café,” and contributed to “Noise and Feedback” (answers to readers’ questions). Douglas is also the author of Play Guitar by Ear – An Innovative Guide to Listening and Learning, a unique guitar instruction book/CD published by Hal Leonard.
As an instructor of electric and acoustic steel string guitar, slide guitar, nylon string guitar, and electric bass guitar, Douglas is an authority on a broad range of styles including rock, blues, jazz, country and introductory classical guitar. He is an advanced music copyist and, with a wide background in music theory and ear training, has prepared numerous transcriptions for further study that are available to all students. Areas of special interest include improvisation in all styles, the social/historical context of composition in the twentieth century, and guitar technology.





Ethan Meixsell joined the Coyote team in the summer of 2005. He is one of the most in-demand professional musicians in the greater New York area. Credits include stints with Cathy Krieger, The Scoldees, John White and, most notably, Favored Nations recording artist Rob Balducci. (Ethan played bass, keyboards, and produced Rob’s latest CD, The Color of Light, and also tours with Rob on bass.) His guitar transcriptions have been published by Guitarist magazine and Mel Bay Publishing, and he is working on a book and solo CD as well.
As an instructor of electric and acoustic steel string guitar, nylon string guitar, electric bass guitar, keyboards, and vocals, Ethan offers an extraordinary level of technical skill to any student wishing to attain it. In addition to his broad knowledge of contemporary music, Ethan has a thorough background in classical and jazz-based theory and performance, and he consequently works as successfully with the most advanced students as he does with beginners. For more of Ethan's adventures, be sure to try these links:
Ethan's MySpace page
Ethan ripping the bejeebies out of his guitar





Skip Krevens has been with Coyote Music since September of 2004. His education includes advanced study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and he has been playing professionally all his life. His performance experience includes Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals (The Will Rogers Follies; Always, Patsy Cline); ad campaigns for Bell Atlantic, M&Ms; American Express, and Budweiser; numerous recording sessions and album appearances; and live performance with Pam Tillis, the Castaways, and (currently) the Toca Band and the Rhythm Kings.
In addition to his command of electric and acoustic steel string guitar and electric bass, Skip’s passion for all things country is reflected in his instruction of pedal steel guitar, lap steel guitar, and dobro. Intermediate and advanced players will find a wealth of information from Skip, and beginners will benefit from his passion for all things stringed.

DIRECTIONS: The Coyote Music Studio is located in the Gyrodyne Industrial Campus, which is part of the Flowerfield grounds, which sit right on the border of Smithtown and Brookhaven. The whole enchilada is just west of Stony Brook University.

If you are coming from anywhere around the North Shore of Long Island, find your way to 25A (also called North Country Road).
Look for Mills Pond Road, which is about 3/4 of a mile west of Stony Brook Rd. On the southeast corner of 25A and Mills Pond Rd. is a big blue sign with gold lettering that says "Flowerfield."
Take Mills Pond Road south from 25A.
Turn left at the second entrance on your left. The second entrance is an unnamed street that leads into the Gyrodyne Industrial Campus, and is unmarked, but you'll see the parking lot and the long and low Gyrodyne Building #7 from the road. (The first entrance on your left shows up on maps as "Parkside Ave." and leads to the Flowerfield Caterers. You don't want to go in here; it's usually gated and you can't get to the studio from there.) Once you're at the big blue sign, turning into the Gyrodyne parking lot, you can follow the pictorial below:

A brief pictorial of where we are...