Teaching Philosophy

Making a positive difference in someone’s life is one of the greatest gifts that one can give.  Some of the greatest gifts in my life were lessons learned from my first music teacher, to my professors in grad school, from my grandfather’s wisdom to my two young children teaching me about patience.  I’m a lifelong student and voracious learner and this is something I want to be able to pass on to my students-a love and thrill for learning.

I believe that the best musician is not only the best for obvious reasons, but also more so because of their innate ability to empathize with the human condition, and through their art evoke emotions within us with grace and humility.  Artists who can expand their field and open our eyes, creating something new and vibrant while still paying homage to the past.  I enjoy teaching because I enjoy being taught.  I know the satisfaction of being able to do something that previously may have seemed abstract or distant, and it’s very satisfying and humbling to watch a student achieve their goals just like I did.

I believe my desire to teach comes from my father’s appetite for learning-he himself being a surgeon and scholar.  His lust for learning and teaching is as alive today as it ever was. Like him, I have a desire to prepare students for the demands of today’s ever-changing industry.  Sure technology has exponentially expanded the resources that are available, but it still takes a good teacher to be able to filter and discern the good information from the not so good.  It’s still the face-to-face pedagogy that gives students the ability to learn from mistakes or grow from one milestone to the next.  It’s that time-honored tradition of passing information from one person to the other that makes students better.

I was taught to learn from the masters and that’s what one of my key philosophies still is.  Creating a unique voice through transcribing and performing, of taking something tried-and-true and adding it to your “tool kit” by making it part of your own voice. 

Learning music from instrumentalists other than your own, and from other genres is the key to being a well-rounded musician and in my opinion is one of the keys to being successful.  With today’s industry, musicians have to be able to play efficiently and convincingly in many diverse styles, as opposed to just honing in on one genre.  Jazz alone almost defies categorization these days as there are so many influences constantly being injected into it and transforming it from just ‘straight ahead’, and today’s musician needs to be aware of these influences as well as the fundamentals in order to create or to work. 

Lastly, critical thinking and being able to make reflective decisions as a musician on how to improve one’s own playing or ensemble playing is very important to me as a teacher, as this is what was instilled on me as a student.