What I've learned from my students

When I moved to Las Vegas from Los Angeles a couple of years ago, I decided I was going to take a break from teaching. I've never taught full-time, but I've always prided myself in keeping one foot in education, if for no other reason than to keep the standard high and pass along this artform that has done so much for me and my life. I started teaching in 1995 while still in high school, and continued for the better part of 11 years. Duties included teaching at music stores and an academy or two for elementary and junion high kids, teaching adults privately, teaching in my home studio, doing clinics for different companies and organizations, co-founding a music camp, teaching at other camps, and mostly in the last several years, teaching at the college level, for either non-guitar majors or mostly for the guitar majors themselves.

I consider it a priveledge to teach guitar, and I've ran into all kinds of students who have gone on to do many, many different things. Some I'll never see again, others are now working professionals who I've known for years and sent on jobs. I am very proud of some of these guys, like Collin Levin, John Hatfield, Rosh Roslin, and Kenny Echizen. They've all done the right work. Another great example is my old friend Logan Weichers, who in 2000 came to me not even knowing how to hold a guitar, and has since gone on to make his own full-length record as a solo artist.

However, I've come to realize something about this new generation of guitar student, and it has turned out to be quite a disappointment for me personally. I don't want to get on some tirade about how culturally bankrupt our country has become, yadda yadda yadda, but I will say that due to the circumstances of recent times, today's guitar student is suffering from a debilitating case of dilusion.

In my most recent teaching experiences, I have noticed a very disturbing pattern. Students who have come to me recently seem to only want one thing: to be validated. They want ME to tell them how talented they are, how right they are, and how wonderful I think they're playing is. When I don't, and I offer suggestions for growth and improvement, most of them leave to go find someone else who can offer the kind of sunny, ass-kissing compliments that I refuse to offer.

In other words, my students, for the most part, are full of shit. So full of shit that they need a paddle to wade through the gigantic steaming pile of shit that's drowning them. They need to know how great they sound, yet they do not want to do the necessary work to break through to the next level. It makes me feel ill.

Another disturbing end result... this one is really heavy. This generation is not the first, they are much like the generation before them, but a bit worse. The effect of this artistic bankruptcy has trickled all the way up to the top level music education institutions and conservatories. They now are forced to give out B's with a lot more leniency than before, and these B's are given to students who may not deserve them. Know why? Because if they can't get a B at school number 1, they're gonna leave for school number 3 or 4,who WILL hand them that B, and then schools 3 and 4 make the money, not school 1. We can't have that, now can we? Once again, ladies and gentlemen, we see the schools detaching themselves further from the street.

The way I see it, that's what the schools get for caring about nothing but God and the bottom line, and that's what the students get for being so full of shit. Good, screw 'em, let 'em get out there with sub standard skills and try and take my work. I dare them. They'd better be prepared to put up with one dirty fight though. Believe me, I don't need any more competition, so if the next group of players are mostly hacks, all that does is further my job security. I am actually relieved. You disagree, you say? Okay, prove me wrong.

Here's something else, and this has been happening since long before any of us got a gig. I'm talking about the guys in it to be rich and famous, to get laid, etc. Look, ALL of us have used some of these things as motivation to play well in the past, and some of us still do. But getting in this business for reasons like this couldn't be more wrong.

The creme eventually rises to the surface on this one. The guys who are in it for the wrong reasons eventually disappear after 5 minutes, and those of us who are in it for the MUSIC end up with our heads above water. With that sort of love for our art, eventually we find a way to make a living at it, and some of us find a way to make a GREAT living at it, the kind of living that allows us to raise families and live in a really nice home, drive a nice car, have some savings, and have several choice instruments hanging on the walls at home. The work never ends, and neither does the hustle, or the ups and downs of the business, but the business itself will eventually show us who's who and what's what.

So, my message to young players is this... shut your fucking mouth, tune up, open your ears, and play like your serious. Do the work we discuss, and come back to me showing real results. Otherwise, pack your gig bag and hit the road smart guy, and find some other teacher who'll coddle your ass a bit more, because I don't open my studio to people who are here to fuck around. It disrespects and trivializes my life's work.

All this being said, I've decided to include a prominent student or two as a guest blogger here, to talk about their recent work and how they've developed their own careers in the business. Stay tuned.