Now teaching in
Silver City, NM  ~  Fairfax, CA
 Liz Stires  
~  Creative Music Coach  ~

Hello and welcome!

I am a lifelong musician and songwriter. I am blessed to be a music teacher from a long line of music teachers before me. Together we will start where you are: I offer instruction in guitar and voice with a specialty in song writing, arrangement and harmony. ​​

 Let me assist you in moving past the comparing mind, discouraging memories  from early experiences. We can identify and address what  has kept you from playing, from expressing music that has been inside!

Offering Individual lessons for guitar, voice and  coaching for performance.

Liz is a Marin County based music/creative coach and vocal arranger. Raised in Mill Valley, California, she is the daughter of Ernest Stires, modern composer and mentor to many including Trey Anastasio from PHISH. Her Step-father Glen Carlson started the Creative Music School in San Rafael in 1960 and taught hundreds of local students through the sixties.

Her family is full of musicians; classical composers, opera singers, song writers and instrumentalists.  Spending her lifetime as a songwriter studying music, harmony, lyrics, guitar and voice, Liz has deepened her craft of  teaching and has developed a unique instinct for arrangement and harmony.  

Sensitive to those who don’t feel they have found their voice or instrument, all are welcome.  No matter where you find yourself;  at the beginning or a ways down the path, she will help you find your thread and get going.  Having navigated her own creative life path from touring nationally, to working a day job and raising a child she knows how we sometimes must learn to fit music between the cracks. She understands how to work within your current circumstances and still find the time and space to let music grow. 

Testimonials

“”Its been a great gift to have found a teacher who could finally help me find the direction that feels natural and true for my music. Whether its finding a new technique that works on my voice, or a perfect cover song that feels like mine, Liz is deeply intuitive and highly skilled. This is the best possible combination for a music teacher. She has helped me organize my life in such a way that music finally fits, and is not left off the list year after year.”

Liz is an amazing teacher! She is empathic, knowledgeable, gentle and inspiring. She is skilled at seeing the possibility in your voice and then guiding you to develop your natural singing voice.  For me studying the nuance of harmony with her is an ever deepening experience, affecting so many parts of my life . Liz is a gift to all who come to work with her.  — Polly Cherner,  San Anselmo

I am deeply grateful for the way that Liz shares her musicality and shepherds people like me, who are seeking to bring their music forth. She shows the way, holds the hand, adds humor, and keeps me progressing. The showcases have been an uplifting challenge, and the whole process continues to be an affirmation that we all have gifts to share through song. It is a celebration and a prayer! Thank you, Liz!  —   Laura Seligsohn