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What led you to teach music
professionally?
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I started out as a performer, but I always felt a strong need to understand the
how and why of music. As a result, I set out on a quest for musical knowledge and
devoted myself to many years of study. I started in Paris, taking lessons from the
best teachers in the city, but I ultimately realized that I needed to go to Los
Angeles. Especially then, LA was home to the world's best school for guitar — the
Guitar Institute of Technology, my alma mater! — and to many of the world's top
studio musicians and performers.
I studied, practiced, and performed with many
outstanding musicians and I learned some fabulous concepts, but I was always struck
by how few of these great musicians were able to present and explain musical concepts
clearly. In order to understand, retain, integrate, and apply the huge body of
knowledge I was amassing, I had to clarify, rephrase, and reorganize it, and this
proved to be the turning point in my musical career. An increasing number of players
kept coming back to me for help, and I came to realize that I had a real talent for
teaching music. The rest came naturally. It took years to get where I wanted to be,
but I'm there now.
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How would you describe your
students?
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They're a pretty diverse bunch, but they do share some common traits. I'd say
my students are people who make the time to do things that fulfill them. By
and large, they are people who realize that music is an important part of their
lives and who have decided to start giving the "inner musician" a little equal
time. People like this understand the value of an effective instructor, and that's
where I come in. Either that, or they just like my French accent!
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In your opinion, what is the key
to making progress as a player?
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There are many keys. The major ones that come to mind are overcoming bad habits,
mastering timing, understanding harmony, and continually exposing yourself to new
challenges.
Bad habits can be as simple as poor posture and sloppy chord changes
or as complex as bad alternate-picking technique.
Timing may seem like a no-brainer,
but it is in fact the most crucial element in playing music and usually one of the
most poorly taught!
Harmony is one of the biggest stumbling blocks. The difference
between a gifted copyist and a truly creative musician is a broad, cohesive
understanding of harmony. Many players have picked up bits and pieces of information
here and there, but they invariably have gaps in their knowledge that prevent them
from realizing their full potential. The most obvious symptom of this is the
inability to consistently play the "right" notes over any given chord progression.
Finally, continual exposure to new challenges is perhaps the master key to making
progress as a player. This being said, the true gold lies in having new ideas,
techniques, and approaches presented to you in the order and in the manner best
suited to your understanding and abilities at that particular moment in time.
For these and other key issues, it is indispensable to find an experienced
instructor who can spot some of the more subtle gaps in knowledge and errors in
technique and provide a step-by-step path to permanent progress.
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When you speak about playing and
teaching music, it sounds like this is something that touches you deeply. Can you
elaborate?
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Understanding harmony and
melody are two of the most precious gifts life has brought me. I like to think of
the degree of melodic content in a piece of music as a celebration of life. If you
love life, you feel impelled to play beautiful melodies. Conversely, when you play
beautiful melodies, you feel happier and love life all the more.
I believe that when
people become better musicians, they can reach into the part of themselves that is
endowed with an inherent sense of connectedness. In the deepest sense, my calling
as an instructor is to help people get in touch with that incredibly powerful part
of themselves. It's hard for me to think of a better job!
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Do you think Seattle has what
you'd call good guitar players?
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| Are you kidding? There are
hundreds. Among the local players I'm familiar with, I really like Danny Hoffer,
John Raymond, and Brian Nova. To me, these guys are really excellent players, and
they are so musical! Of course, there are many other great players out there in
just about any style you can think of — these are just the first ones to come to
mind. I think the more you yourself improve as a player, the more you can
appreciate how many great players are really out there.
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What about good guitar
instructors?
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Well, I haven't taken lessons
from other instructors in the Seattle area, so I have to base what I say on what I
see in my students and what they have to say about their previous experiences.
Let's just say that while there may be other good guitar instructors out there,
they are definitely a rarer breed.
A lot of the students who come to me haven't assimilated the material they were
trying to cover under their previous teachers. There could be many reasons for this.
They may have been less motivated at that point in time and just didn't practice
enough. They may have been working with written materials that were inaccurate or
unclear. But they may also have been working with an instructor who just wasn't the
right one for their particular needs.
Being able to teach music effectively is a separate, additional, complementary skill
that only a small subset of good players have mastered. A good player unconsciously
understands "the rules" and can apply them in his own playing. A good teacher also
consciously knows what the rules are and can explain them clearly. A really good
teacher knows how to explain the rules in the right order and at the right time for
each individual student. A great teacher does all of this and also provides the
warmth, encouragement, and personal connection that motivate the student to keep on
practicing, learning, and progressing. This is what I aspire to be and I don't think
students who really love music should settle for less!
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How do students who have taken
lessons from other teachers respond to your approach?
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tried an approach that doesn't get results, he is more apt to appreciate and comply
with an approach that does. Most of my students soon come to realize how much work
and care goes into my lesson plans, but the ones who have struggled under less
dedicated teachers love me for it!
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You have a lot of intermediate
and advanced students. How important is good instruction for beginners?
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When a guy buys a guitar,
whether or not he sticks with it and makes playing a permanent part of his life
depends on how much he enjoys it — which in turn usually depends on how much
progress he makes. This places a pretty significant responsibility on the teacher
he goes to for help.
For this reason (and many others), I am very conscious of my responsibility as
an instructor. From a business standpoint, losing a student is regrettable.
From a personal standpoint, however, teaching so poorly that you turn a student
away from guitar forever is totally unforgivable.
This almost happened to me when I was learning. My first three teachers were
unspeakably bad, and it took an incredible effort of will on my part to not become
completely disgusted with music and quit for good! Unfortunately, it took me years
before I tried taking lessons again.
The way an instructor manages his lessons — especially for beginners —
can plant the seed for a lifetime of fulfillment with music or, in the worst case,
spoil the whole thing for good. The way I see it, when you have that kind of
responsibility, you had better excel at what you do.
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Is there anything else you'd
like to add?
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First, I would like to thank
all of my students, past and present, for making it possible for me to pursue a life
in music. I'm sure you all realize how highly I value this gift.
I would also like to thank the people who ultimately read this interview. I hope
that some of the things I've said will be helpful to you and that I will have the
privilege of teaching you some day. Whether we meet or not, I wish you a beautiful
musical journey throughout your lifetime and all the fun and joy that come with it!
Finally, I would like to give special thanks to all of my friends in the local music
industry. It's been a real joy working with you and bringing the gift of music to so
many people in our beautiful little metropolis.
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