About West Shore Music Studio

Hi I’m Nicholas Carothers, a multi-instrumentalist, performer, and educator with a specialty in teaching guitar and bass.

I began studying music at the age of 6 with piano lessons, and later developed guitar skills by practicing rock and heavy metal in my teenage years.  Since then, I’ve thoroughly studied many other genres including:  blues, jazz, funk, bluegrass, classical, pop, reggae, R&B and more.

I further developed my knowledge of technique and music theory by studying with teachers including:  Jay Umble, Andy Alonso, John Catalano, Jim Miller, Paul Fitzsimmons, Eric Wirsing, Cliff Engel, Jamie Fuhrman and more.  I’ve also expanded my knowledge of music with hundreds of instructional books, videos and online courses.  One of the things I find most interesting about studying music is there is no limit to exploration and no end to personal growth.

My stage experience includes performing with such artists as: Harrisburg funk legends Positive Force, D-Bo, Due Process, Switch Fu, Mark Focazio Band, Jon Pyle & The Blacklight Syndicate, Lydia Zavala, Rivertown Review and more. I've also opened shows for a variety of famous artists such as 70's blues rock legend Pat Travers, 80's R&B hit-makers Loose Ends, and 90's dance band C+C Music Factory. 

I’ve performed at venues such as the Harrisburg Forum; The Fillmore Philadelphia; Lincoln Financial Field Philadelphia; Club XL; HMAC; Hollywood Casino; Sawyers; Duke's; Underground LIVE; Hershey Vineyard; Hershey Country Club; The District; The Elks; Champions;  Market Cross Pub; Abbey Bar; River City Blues; Joe K’s; Tubby’s Nightclub; Fat Daddy’s; Blarneys; Mr. G’s; Flinchy’s; Gettysburg Wine Festival; Harrisburg Ice & Fire Festival; Harrisburg Artsfest; Kipona Festival, and more.

In addition to teaching, I’ve created a series of educational products including a curriculum for parents to teach guitar at home (TeachYourKidsGuitar.com), as well as series of songbooks for guitar, ukulele, flute, recorder, trumpet, saxophone, clarinet, violin and cello (MakeMusicEasy.com).  I also operate Kids Love Guitar lesson studios (KidsLoveGuitar.com) where my handpicked teachers have unprecedented success with children as young as four.

From all of my previous music and teaching experience, I’ve discovered that learning music can be fun and easy - when done right.  I’ve created West Shore Music studios to share my knowledge and help my students reach their goals, whether it’s to make music with friends, perform live in a band, or simply experience the joy of playing music at home.

-Nicholas Carothers