Introduction


Hi I'm Dan O'Connor, I started playing guitar when I was 13 years old by learning all the standard riffs everyone else does like Stairway to Heaven, Iron Man, Smoke on the Water, etc. I also got into singing and writing songs in my teens

Then I went on to the Hartford Conservatory of Music and studied jazz guitar for 2 years. After that I went to the Hartt School of Music where I got a Bachelor's degree in music business 

I learned the guitar fretboard inside out in college and studied music theory to an advanced level. I also took vocal lessons in school which helped improve my singing skills 

I taught guitar in a music store while going to college as well. However I really did not enjoy teaching little kids. I might like teaching adults advanced guitar and music theory. Someday I may do that

Click here to book an online private guitar lesson today to get started with a focused practice plan

In the 90s and 2000s I tried getting record and publishing deals as a singer-songwriter but got nowhere with that. I also played a lot of live gigs just singing and playing guitar solo

In 2008 I got into composing electronic music. I started a website called DanoSongs.com where I licensed that music royalty free to use in videos. Thousands of people used my music and I made a part-time income doing that for 10 years

Also in the mid-2000s I started a band called Phoenix Tree which plays a mix of covers and my original music. We still play live on a regular basis in the New York area and I make some extra cash from the band

Throughout the 2000s I also tried to make money with my music in film and TV placements but the efforts did not amount to much. Also releasing albums on Spotify and streaming services has never brought me more than a couple thousand dollars

Starting in the 2020s I began to turn my attention to education based guitar reels for social media. Several of these reels have gone viral and I am getting enough followers to begin to consider selling guitar related products or services

I started this blog in 2023 to document my continued journey of bringing in income as a musician both offline and online. I will be exploring how to monetize my social media accounts next

I currently live in the Beacon, New York area which is about an hour north of NYC. It's nice to meet you feel free to send me a note to say Hi


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