Educational Philosophy

Developing holistic musicians is the main goal of my practice as an educator. To me, simply playing an instrument (my primary being guitar) isn’t it. As we are the sum of our collective parts as humans, we should see an instrument as a tool to make music and not mistake one small part for the whole experience. That being said, once we find those tools that connect with us on a deeper level, it’s up to us to sharpen those as much as possible to be able to use them. For this reason I have included the various elements of music for which I offer lessons - they are all aspects of music that I enjoy using to express myself and are all interwoven into the web of influences that speak through my guitar. I, along with many of my musical peers, also feel that academia has been slow to integrate large swaths of music that have had a major impact on the music I anticipate working on with every one of my students, and studying with me will allow anyone looking to pursue higher education will benefit greatly from exposure to material that academics are now acknowledging as important fields of modern musicianship - whether that is jazz, classical, pop/rock, hip hop, etc. I don’t teach all music, but I do teach what I know and have made real connections between.

While music is the basis for which I create my life around, I don’t take this too seriously. Hopefully just by perusing this page you can gather this. Music is fun, and my students show me everyday why I picked this up in the first place. Music has valuable life lessons to teach us, and requires a lot from us, but it also offers rewards that I have come across no where else in this life. Open-mindedness, self-discipline, a connection to the natural world, and a healthy outlet for life’s ups and downs are all wonderful facets we gather from making music together. It has led me to plenty of usable tangible pursuits as well - electronics and repair work, fashion design, wood work, creative problem solving, the acquisition of different languages, the game of chess, and so much more.

I have a Bachelors of Music degree from the Jacobs School of music at Indiana University where I studied jazz guitar with Dave Stryker and classical guitar with Ernesto Bitetti and Petar Jankovic. My students have gone on to be accepted into music programs like Indiana University, CU Denver, Wheaton College, and more. I have taught young prodigies and older folks who are finding new passions later in life. All are welcome, and I make my private residence a safe space to teach out of.