Guitar Lessons near Camden!

Private lessons for individual adults, children and teens, as well as paired lessons for spouses, siblings and parent/child!

If you are in Camden and interested in learning to play guitar (or learning to play better) I’m here to help! I’m in Voorhees.

About Camden: The city was incorporated on February 13, 1828. Camden has been the county seat of Camden County since the county’s formation on March 13, 1844. The city derives its name from Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden. Camden is made up of over 20 neighborhoods, and is part of the South Jersey region of the state.

The initial growth of Camden industrially is often credited to the “big three” employers of Camden: RCA Victor, Campbell’s Soup Company and New York Shipbuilding Corporation. The “big three” felt compelled to move away from Camden in the mid-to-late-20th century as they could find cheaper workers elsewhere. Though the city has declined in recent decades since the decline of heavy industry in the area and white flight to the suburbs, the city has made efforts to revitalize itself through various infrastructure and community projects.

Projects such as the redevelopment of the waterfront area brought three tourist attractions to the area: the USS New Jersey, the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion and the Adventure Aquarium. The city is the home of Rutgers University–Camden, which was founded as the South Jersey Law School in 1926, and Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, which opened in 2012. Camden also houses both Cooper University Hospital and Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. Camden County College and Rowan University also have campuses in downtown Camden. The “eds and meds” institutions account for roughly 45% of Camden’s total employment.

Once known for violent crime, the restructuring of the police force in 2013 has been credited for its decline. As of January 2021, violent crime was down 46% from its high in the 1990s and at the lowest level since the 1960s. Overall crime reports in 2020 were down 74% compared to 1974, the first year of uniform crime-reporting in the city.

The city traces back to local indigenous Lenape, who are believed to have inhabited this area 13–15,000 years prior to the first European settlers.

Between 1623 and 1627, Captain Cornelius Jacobsen May, an officer with the Dutch West India Company and first director of New Netherland, established Fort Nassau, where the Delaware River meets Big Timber Creek, which is today known as Brooklawn. In 1633, David Pietersen De Vries, a Dutch commander, was sailing up the Delaware River when he came across Natives in control of the fort. The settlers that had been left at the fort had decided to return to New Amsterdam (Today Manhattan, New York). Wouter van Twiller, Governor of New Netherland, restored Fort Nassau. He was accused of extravagant spending in the fort’s reconstruction. The settlement subsequently sparked competition from European Settlers over control of the fur trade in the area. The fort was used by the Dutch until around 1650 or 1651 when it was decided that it was far to up the river to be of any value. The buildings and stockades were demolished and Wouter van Twiller assigned Arent Corssen to find a place for another fort.

The British first had a presence in the area in 1634. On June 21, 1634, Sir Edmund Ployden was given a charter from King Charles I of England for all territory that lies between New England and Maryland. After the Restoration in 1660, previous claims were largely overwritten, the land around Camden was then controlled by different nobles serving under King Charles II that those associated with Sir Edmund Ployden. In 1664, the Duke of York had the King Charles II create the new colony for Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. It was named the Province of New Jersey after George Carteret; in 1649, he was Governor of the Isle of Jersey. Lord John Berkeley kept his share of New Jersey from 1664 until 1674, when he sold it to two Quakers, John Fenwick and Edward Byllynge. This due to political difficulties between him, Carteret, and Governor of New York Richard Nicolls, as well as financial difficulties. Governor Richard Nicolls had objected to the Province of New Jersey as he had exercised control over the area prior under the Province of New York. After Edward Byllynge suffered a bankruptcy and having issues with his creditors, William Penn, one of the creditors, was chosen to be arbitrator. They argued that he funded the purchase of Lord John Berkeley’s share of the Province of New Jersey with funds that were justly due to them. It was decided that Fenwick was entitled to 10% of the share, while 90% would be controlled by trustees that are chosen for the benefit of the creditors of Edward Byllynge, who were mostly Quakers themselves. The trustees were chosen to be William Penn, Gawen Laurie and Nicholas Lucas. The goal was to have the trustees sell the territory to colonists so that the creditors of Edward Byllynge would be made whole. It was also hoped that Quaker may be motivated to emigrate to this territory. At the time, the Society of Friends were flirting with the idea of “new country”, where they could practice their religious beliefs and not be shamelessly persecuted. In 1676, the Quakers decided to form a colony, spittling the previous colony in two, East Jersey and West Jersey for the Quakers. Quakers settled in the area at the end of the 17th century and the start of the 18th century, drawn by promises of religious freedom, fairer taxation and more representation in government.

Interested in lessons from a local guy? Let’s get started! Contact me here to set up your first lesson.