Over the last 18 years of teaching guitar at Yenney Music in Olympia, WA, patience is the number one quality my students appreciate about my teaching. No matter what level or ability, each student has unique goals, challenges and skills, and for the first time beginner, my enjoyment of teaching and patience inspires my students to feel ok about learning good habits and techniques that help avoid the pitfalls and "mistakes" (learning opportunities) that are necessary to grow as a musician and as a person. In my teaching experience, failure is seen as an opportunity to learn, and as a result, my teaching affirms self-respect and fosters courage, committment, determination and persistence.
Each student has specific goals, and my job is to help them achieve those goals.
"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." Michael Jordan
The most enjoyable aspect of teaching music is witnessing my students' own "ah-ha" moments! Moments where their own personal discoveries becomes meaningful to them and inspires a deeper commitment to their practice. My job is not to just tell my students or point out what they need to learn and how, but to create the necessary environment for my students to make their own discoveries that inspire them to ask more questions and seek more answers. My goal as a teacher is to help my students create a practice that they can carry on as they grow and move into different phases of life. The ulimate priviledge is in knowing that my students become their own teachers, explorers, and creators of music in a way that is meaningful to them, leaving them with the tools they need to carry on with their practice long after our sessions have expired. My first teacher gave me the tools to learn songs by ear, which I carried with me into college. My second teacher and 20 year mentor taught me to read music, understand the CAGED fretboard map, and all aspects of playing guitar: technique, composition, music theory, fretboard theory, accompaniment, arrangement, improvisation, solo guitar playing, and ultimately teaching guitar, all through playing songs, which is ultimately the goal of the musician. We do not go to see our favorite musicians run scales and modes and do flashy tricks, but to hear them play music that bring us joy and meaning in our lives. The song is the goal and the means of achieving the goal. The scales and chords and techniques and theories that make up the songs are secondary to the song. Playing scales fast and knowing all the modes does not replace the craft of song writing or playing, nor does it help to know what your role is in the musical conversation.
