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BM, Drake University, Instrumental Performance
2016- Drake University Honors Recital Competition
Music has been a significant part of my life since I was a child, and it's importance has grown as I've gotten older. I started, as many do, in the fifth grade when I started playing the saxophone which I continued on through high school. When I was 13 I started playing the electric guitar, and I would later switch to the classical guitar at 19. In college I learned some piano as well as bassoon in addition to the methods and materials classes that I had to take as a music education major. However, I eventually switched to instrumental performance. Currently my focus is on composition, but I plan on returning to classical guitar when i have more time.
As a music education major I spent a lot of time learning pedagogy, assessment, and evaluation. I've written dozens of lesson plans including those for students with special needs. Unfortunately my time as a teacher has been rather limited which is something I'm working on changing. I had one student who I was able to work with during my last year of college. We were able to make a lot of progress in not only guitar playing, but musicianship as well. However, that was in Des Moines, Iowa, and now I'm left starting over here in the Cleveland area.
My philosophy of teaching is that there is a base of knowledge and skills that a student must possess before a more personal journey in music can occur. While I don't subscribe to any particular method I do believe there is a best order to learning. After about a year of instruction I try to encourage students to explore music more on their own, and eventually get to the point where my job is more of a coach than a teacher. My main goal is to get a student to the point that they no longer need a teacher in order to learn.
Learning isn't a photocopy process which means a lot of the learning process is a responsibility of the student. I view my job as a teacher is to 1) make sure the student isn't getting overwhelmed, 2) hold the student accountable for their learning, and 3) guiding students through experiences that will facilitate their learning. My goals as a teacher are to 1) bring students to the highest level of technical ability they are able to attain, and 2) develop in the student the highest level of musicianship possible through theory and ear training.
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