This past spring, we made some promo videos featuring our alumni and faculty.  Personally, my favorite videos were the ones with Dave Smolover.  Dave began the National Guitar Workshop in 1984 and since then has branched out to DayJams, National Guitar Workshop Publications and WorkshopLive.

Below are the three parts of the interview we filmed.  Even with working with him for as long as I have, there was some new information.  Please take a minute and check them out.

Part Two:

Part Three:

Austin is by far one of my favorite cities to go to.  There is always great food nearby and if live music is your thing (which for me it is), there is plenty of great bands and musicians to check out.

This year our workshop took place at Concordia University in the northwest suburbs of Austin.  It is a great campus that gave the feeling that you were on a nature retreat somewhere in the hill country of Texas.  Everyone there welcomed us back (we were at their old location in 2006 and 2007) and I was really looking forward to seeing the returning students and our faculty.

Our featured guest for our Blues Summit was Jimmie Vaughan.  Jimmie is a legendary Texas Blues musician and is one of a handful of guitarists who we have never had the chance to work with.  For his appearance, Jimmie brought his band with him that included Mike Flanigin on B3 and the legendary blues drummer, Frosty.  The band did a great job of mixing up some performances of Jimmie’s tunes and some Q and A with the audience.   This is a big reason why our students come back year after year, they get the chance not only to see some of their guitar heroes up close, but also get the opportunity to ask them questions.

Another guest we had in Austin was John Jorgenson.  John is largely known for his time in the twang supergroup The Hellecasters with Jerry Donahue and Will Ray.  John’s talent as a musician is endless.  Not only is he a scary good electric country player he is easily one of the foremost Gipsy style guitarists in the world.  Adding his skills on clarinet and he is pretty much one of the most versatile musicians around.

Overall it was a great week for the students and faculty alike.

Here is a video of an especially talented student playing on the student concert:

How to Find the Perfect Teacher

Finding the right teacher is the best way to insure success in any endeavor, not just learning to play an instrument. Unfortunately, we have been conditioned by our school systems to accept the teachers they put in front of us. So often when we actually do have a choice like selecting a private teacher, we fall back into the habit of accepting whoever is available.

The first thing to do is truly examine what you want to accomplish. Do you want to play Beatle tunes? Do you want to work on your improvisation skills? Do you want to learn how to read music? WHAT DO YOU WANT? (If you don’t know, well then we have another set of problems that we’ll discuss later.)

Let’s assume for the moment that you do know what you want to accomplish. Then it’s time to locate and interview the teacher. Remember you are the customer. It’s your money and it’s your right to select whomever you want. Steps to take:

1. Referrals are a good place to start. Ask a friend who’s playing you respect and find out where they studied.

2. No friends. Sorry. Go to small live music venues and if you find a player you like ask them: 1) if they teach, or 2) can the recommend a teacher.

3. Too young to go to clubs or too old to stay up that late. OK. Visit the local music store and ask questions about their teachers. If you find a likely candidate, ask to set up an interview. The storeowner may look at you funny, but you’ll survive.

4. No likely candidates at the store. Onward. Call the local college music department. As them who are their most popular faculty members. Then ask if they teach privately. Almost all of them will. Ask for contact info and then set-up the interview.

5. Last resort. Hang out at the local coffee shop and stop everyone caring a guitar. Remember anyone making their living as a guitar teacher gets up at 10:00 and goes for coffee around 11:30. They have very few friends and no social outlets, so they’ll be happy to talk with you.

The Interview

Remember. Be honest about what you want to learn. Don’t try to please the teacher. It’s their job to please you. Ask them to specifically tell you how their approach will help you accomplish your goal. Ask them about their educational background. How long have they been teaching? Here’s the most important question. Ask them what kind of student do they most enjoy teaching? Does that sound like you? If so, sign-up. If not, keep looking.

If you don’t know what you want to accomplish or if you’ve been playing a long time and you’re not improving, then this is what you have to discuss with the perspective teacher. Honestly describe your playing. Ask to play with the teacher if words fail you. Then say, “OK, how can you help me?” If the answer sounds like good and it’s not a canned response (i.e. All my students ……) then give it a shot.

The most important thing to remember is that it’s your money, but it’s also your responsibility to find the right teacher.