Justin G  
Instruments: Violin, Viola, Electric Violin
Styles: Classical, Avant-garde

I began teaching music lessons back in my high school days and immediately discovered a passion for sharing my areas of expertise with others in an incredibly interactive manner. During the last three years, I've further cultivated that passion for teaching both in a classroom and individual lesson setting during my graduate work at Florida State. The reason I teach is to help shape future generations into critical thinkers. And more specifically, I teach music because good musicians are good citizens. Developing musicianship involves the cultivation of effective practice methods, coordinating dedicated effort with deliberate, thoughtful engagement. Musicians must also balance aesthetic appreciation with analytical inquiry, and become masters of time management. To these ends, I encourage my students to become self-directed learners, to expand their horizons, and to make connections between various areas of study.

For students beginning within the context of a school orchestra program, I prefer to begin within the pedagogical book of choice of the school program (e.g. Hal Leonard's Essential Elements) before branching out into other methods and repertoire such as the Suzuki school. For intermediate and adult students, I try to adapt repertoire and activity selection to his or her own interests, and find a balance between addressing important technique learning tasks and music that keeps the student excited and engaged.