Teacher Profile: Larson Haakenstad

About Larson Haakenstad

Music runs inside of us all, we absorb it every day. Our ears yearn for the sounds that make up the soundtrack of our lives. The gift of playing music is possible to everyone, it’s only a matter of putting in the time – we can all do it.

Larson comes from a musical family, starting his musical education in piano at the age of 6. Later, discovering guitar as one of the great loves of his life, with a great appreciation for Rock, Soul, Blues, R&B, Americana, and more. He finds teaching as a blessed way to pass his passion for music to another, in hopes that they may begin their musical journey as they see fit. Not everyone needs to be the next Hendrix or Quincy Jones, but we can all find a way to play music to have a deeper understanding and appreciation for the music we hear in our lives.

Larson focuses on performance, technique, theory, and ear training to build the foundation for students to have immediate success on their instrument at a pace that best suits the student. He believes that the lesson is only a brief moment in the week to learn something new, and that strong practice is the best way to make big gains. He will teach how to love practice, to love learning, and enjoy the journey. Perfect practice leads to perfect playing.

Beyond teaching, Larson has performed music alongside platinum recording artists, toured the West Coast and in Europe, has had his music placed in MTV, FOX and wrote custom music for advertising. He’s also a trained recording engineer, learning on Jack Endino (Nirvana, Soundgarden) and Randall Dunn (Algiers, Johann Johannsson)."