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 MW: In your opinion how has technology, especially the
internet, changed the landscape of guitar education in recent years and where
do you see it headed in the future?
JS: Technology has made obtaining information easier. It hasn’t made it easier to play instruments.
You still have to put in the work. I use
technology in both lessons and practice, whether I am transcribing a solo and
use software to slow it down or using a play along with a student. At NGW we have started a special music
technology curriculum that addresses theses changes in education. It has been very successful the last few
years.
I think musicians have to be responsive to new
technology. Every summer I see many,
many young guitarists who have AMAZING technique and when I ask them how they
learned to play like that almost every one talks about either a tab website,
DVD or some computer software that slows down a difficult passage. Technology is only going to help those
musicians who take the time to learn about it and use it to their advantage.
MW: How did you begin your career at the National Guitar
Workshop, and how have you seen that company grow in the past few years?
JS: That is an interesting story. When I was at MSU I needed to complete an
internship for my degree. One day I was
in the computer lab working on a project and decided to check out NGW. I always wanted to go to NGW, but there
wasn’t a location near where I grew up (Davenport,
IA). On the website they had a downloadable
application for people who were interested in Resident Advisor positions. I filled out an application, wrote a cover
letter and mailed it off thinking nothing of it.
A few weeks later I received a phone call and they
interviewed me on the spot. About a week
after that they called back and asked if I could do a month on the road. That summer I spent time in New
Orleans, Austin, Chicago
and Nashville. It was an amazing experience. During that time I met some of my all time
guitar heroes and made lifelong friends.
After that summer I went back to school thinking that was
going to be a one time thing. In early
’05 they called me again and asked if I wanted to direct some campuses. Thanks to my wife, she let me go on the road
the two weeks before our wedding and then fly out the morning after to finish a
week with NGW in Chicago. I continued directing in the summer until my
last year in graduate school when Dave Smolover, the owner of the company
called me and offered both me and my wife (who had become a campus director as
well) full time positions at the main office in Connecticut.
Since I have been working full time in the office I have
seen the quality of our program increase exponentially. Our Director of Music, Tom Dempsey has done
an amazing job with hiring the best teachers possible. The teachers are the people who really make
the NGW experience great for our students.
Many of them tour with national acts, write columns in the guitar
magazines and are some of the greatest musicians I have ever seen.
Another big reason why our students come back every year is
because of our guest artists. On our
community website we just made our first
guest artists announcement for 2009.
This year our guest artists will include Buddy Guy, Paul Gilbert, Jimmy
Herring, Pat Metheny, Robben Ford, Jimmie Vaughan, Pat Martino and many more.
MW: What advice do you have for people who are just starting
to teach guitar?
JS: I would say approach it like you are a session guitarist
and be versatile in many styles. You
never know what type of music a student will be interested in and you need to
be prepared to at least give them some guidance even if that means helping them
find a new teacher. Also make sure your
organizational skills are together. Even
if you teach out of a music store you are running a business and should be
professional in your record keeping.
MW: What advice do you have for students when they are
looking for a private teacher?
JS: Find a teacher who can teach you what you want to
learn. If a student comes to me wanting
to be a shredder, I could help him with some things, but it would benefit them
more if they studied with a teacher who specialized in that.
Don’t be afraid to tell your teacher if you aren’t getting
what you need out of your lessons. It is
the teacher’s responsibility to give you the information you need to make
progress.
MW: Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk
with us.
JS: My pleasure, anytime.
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