Student Spotlight: Mitch, Classical Guitar
Meet Mitch, who among other things, loves music.
He’s been a guitarist most of his life. He first began playing at age 8, but when he was 13 something happened which would change the course of his musical journey forever. His grandmother took him to see the legendary Andres Segovia perform in concert. After that, Mitch knew exactly what he wanted to play: classical guitar.
There were no formal guitar lessons for Mitch until he went to college. It was there where he studied with Carol Mano, who was a student of one of the most significant classical guitarists of the 20 century: Rey de la Torre. He also studied with Frank Wallace, who was a student of Michael Lorimer (who had been a favorite student of the great Segovia). Mitch was on his way, or so it would seem.
Unpredictably and uncharacteristically, Mitch stopped playing guitar for 15 years. Instead he became immersed with other areas of life. He pursued higher education, he got a doctoral degree in education and raised a family.
It was his wife who got him back into playing guitar again. One day she suprises him with a new guitar, along with a book about practicing. The gesture alone touched him so much that he made a conscious effort to start playing again. With a renewed focus, he decided he it was time to pursue classical guitar again.
So what did he do? He went online and searched for some classical guitar music to get him motivated.
That’s when he he first heard Jason Vieaux. It was a profound experience.
For the first time he was able to really hear the music as it was meant to be played.
“He really focused my hearing to just the music, the way you hear a pianist play Beethoven or Bach.” - Mitch
After some more searching, Mitch was amazed to learn he could actually study online with THE Jason Vieaux - and for an amazingly reasonable price.
So he signed up. Soon he sent in his first video:
In his response video, Jason seemed impressed and gave him some ideas for what to work on next.
Mitch was hooked. 5 years later, he's still submitting videos. Here’s why, in his own words:
"Studying with Jason Vieaux is the equivalent of studying with Segovia, in terms of the world class ability. Jason also happens to be a phenomenal teacher, with so many years of pedagogical experience. It was just an opportunity I could not pass up." - Mitch
So what’s he learned?
Among other things, how to focus on the melody and never lose sight of it. Also, important techniques for how to make practicing more effective. He's learned how to hear his own playing with an objective ear.
He’s learned it’s not about you as a guitar player, it’s really about you as a musician. It’s about being the best musician you can be through whatever instrument you choose. It's about helping the audience connect with the music through the instrument you're playing. It's very powerful.
"I’m probably as serious a classical guitar student today as I was back in college." - Mitch
Ready to learn classical guitar? Click here for free sample lessons!
More ArtistWorks Student Stories:
Comments