About Steve Dukes

Steve Dukes' Musical History

Steve Dukes got his first guitar at twelve years old and by thirteen was playing blues professionally in clubs ‘til two in the morning. For four dazzling, youthful years Steve was pressing the musical envelope as hard as he could... a salient feature that would characterize the rest of Steve’s musical life. After a year and a half of study at the University of Virginia, the Chairman of the Music Department, Byzantine Chant scholar Milos Velimirovich, suggested Steve, nineteen years old, study with American avant-garde composer John Cage. Steve instinctively knew he wasn’t ready.

After three years on the road playing everything under the sun and having opportunities to play with such luminaries as jazz great Joe Pass, Steve matured enough to study with Cage. Eight months of study, dining, chess and excessiveness with John Cage in New York enabled Steve to envision what was musically possible.

“I know you’re the greatest musical mind of the 20th century and I want to follow in your footsteps,” Dukes said. Cage replied “No, I want you to find your own path.”

Steve left for Atlanta at age 23 to create the Noise Orchestra, and for three years enjoyed notoriety in the avant-garde.

At 27 , “I understood what Cage meant. I found that what I really loved was the American blues I had grown up listening to, so I switched to solo acoustic guitar in1982, created and developed my own musical vision and devoted myself to teaching” said Dukes. But it wasn’t just teaching; Steve founded the very first Rock‘n’Roll school in America... The Atlanta School of Rock (ASR).

The Atlanta School of Rock taught guitar, bass, drums, vocals, keyboards, trumpet, saxophone and flute in the styles of Blues, Rhythm’n’Blues, Classic Rock, Alternative and Heavy Metal.

Lots of Successes...

Steve taught Bruce Hampton, aka Col. Hampton B. Coles (ret.), to play the mandolin. Hampton performed with Hendrix and would go on to play Saturday Night Live and VH-1.

Jan Smith, Dukes’ music theory student also taught Steve to sing. He went on to hire Smith as ASR’s first vocal teacher and Vocal Department Head. Smith would emerge from the Atlanta School of Rock and later teach members of Matchbox 20, Collective Soul, Alicia Keys and TLC. Another of Steve’s students, George Cutillas, would go on to record Grammy Award Winner Usher. “It was a brilliant time at the Atlanta School of Rock with a lot of very bright musicians,” said Dukes.

1991 brought on personal changes for Steve. After winning custody of his then three year old daughter, Steve decided to close the school and devote his energy to raising Jen. “Best decision I ever made,”... and he went back to private practice for eleven years.

In 2002 Steve had an opportunity to expand his practice to San Francisco and took it. With students like Cy Young award winner Barry Zito on the west coast and founder and former CEO of Mindspring, Charles Brewer on the east coast, things look bright for Steve’s teaching career.

Dukes’ Works Include:

– The Rock Soloist Program (1982)
The Rock Soloist Program, a text with six hours of recordings and sold all over the world... Steve’s first written teaching method on how to play electric lead guitar.

– The Acoustic Blues Guitar Program (1996)
Fourteen years in the making, Steve wrote The Acoustic Blues Guitar Program and codified his personal vision for the teaching and playing of virtuoso acoustic solo guitar.

To inquire about studying guitar with Steve Dukes call (415) 987-9666 and Steve will return your call within 24 hours.