You never know, really. People come in your studio, they all have different background. You get all sorts. I try to be welcoming because I understand that most of my job is to get in touch with the student. That’s my best bet to make sure we can communicate. My only weapon to beat video lessons on YouTube is to be an efficient communicator.
And so, my goal is to deliver what you want. Well, I should say “almost what you want”. I do need to expand and teach new ways of approaching a concept or some new thoughts about old familiar ground. For example, if I meet someone who thinks of Rock only as the music of “Rush”, I might have to suggest that there are simpler forms of that genre, then try to guess what kind of band I can recommend that I think would fit the student’s taste. Eventually, we can stretch it and start talking about the influence that gave birth to the band Rush. Was it Jazz, was it Blues, was it Rock, was it all of the above? Then we can look at bands of the past like “Yes” or “The Who”. It’s a lot of fun. We can also extend the other direction and go towards the present. We can explore the band “Tool”, for instance. The subject is the same, only it has become a game of who can name an artist that has a musical tie to “Rush”.
I love having this kind of exchange with a student. It’s what make them unique. Their lesson becomes a true joy because we are not in the traditional role of Teacher/Student. The time we spend together is more of a conversation between two best buddies fascinated by the same subject. As they tell me things about them, I share my own experience too. We bound with music which, by the way, is the secret in the sauce: sharing something important with someone in music. I’m convince, my calendar is full because of that.
