Who the Hell is Ubiquitous Guitar Teacher Dan Smith?

Ever since Giuliani time, we've seen fliers advertising guitar instructions from Dan Smith everywhere. Like many New Yorkers, we've often wondered, is this "Dan Smith Will Teach You Guitar" one man, or one thousand? Curiosity finally got the better of Websterism, who interviewed the man behind the fliers. He explains the secret to his success:

"[The fliers] stand out because I believe in what I’m doing, and I put that conviction into the message and the design. Plus the fact that they’re everywhere." But is it too much saturation? His fliers are so frigging ubiquitous that they're invading New Yorkers' dreams. One blogger even had to bring up Smith in therapy; in her Dan Smith ~~dream~~ nightmare, he "tells me that I have a gray hair down there and rather than be mortified by it in my dream, I am turned on. He's totally eyeballing my pelvis..." We'll leave it at that.

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By John Del Signore in News on October 8, 2009 6:32 PM

Comments [rss]

Brad

http://dansmithwill.com/

ides_of_march

Who cares who he is, it's nothing to fret about.

Bernie Madoff-Goetz

Thanks for your feedback.

butterbutter

Hilarious. That joke really struck a chord with me.

Qraymond

He really is the Dr. Z of guitar teachers. :)

After playing for 15 years, I finally took some lessons at First Flight Music and thought their teacher Sten was great.

alphabeta

Actually that NYT piece is very positive. It's not an investigative story at all. It does not claim he is rude, mercenary, to be avoided or that he preys on anyone.

Dead Himmler

What's not debateable is the fact that this guy is a tool. I would give up to 750 dollars to punch him in the face.

NannyState

He looks like someone else took that offer.

thefacts

Caveat Emptor!! Dan Smith is a Rip Off!

The NY Times Sunday Section a few years ago did an Investigative Piece on him.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9906E0DC113EF934A25757C0A9639C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

He takes your money, gives a couple of shortened-time lessons, shows you the way to the door, and pockets the money from the next sucker waiting at the door. The Times article claimed he is rude, mercenary and is to be avoided.

Apparently, according to the Times article, he preys on new residents who fall for his scam.

Suckers Beware.

If you want to take guitar lesson from a jerk who advertises his 'talents'in laudromats, Korean delis, and copy shops: welcome to NYC, sucker!

andy b

WHO IS JOHN GALT?

Willie Nillie

The signs work because of that stupid picture of his awkwardly positioned body.

NannyState

I learned classical guitar technique out of sheer annoyance!

John Kuhner

This guy had signs up at least as early as the late 90s. I can't believe he's still doing this.

valeriob

I've seen this guys ads in hundreds of bars!!

Everyone knows Chris Decker at Reades St Pub is the best guitar dude evarrr! He will teach you the way.