Sam Petschulat

Introduction: I've worked a lot with young people, helping them get started with new instruments. I've volunteered for the last three years at the Nashville and Knoxville Girls Rock Camps, worked for 2 years at Valor Collegiate Academy and Nashville Academy of Computer Science as an after-school music instructor, and worked for three years as a private music instructor. This experience has taught me what works and what doesn't in terms of building skills with new instruments. I know how to teach the rudiments of playing, practicing, and performing, and the gradual steps from beginning all the way to mastery. All while having lots of fun! Making music has been and continues to be one of the most joyful parts of my own life, and I love teaching other people how to access these same experiences that have meant so much to me. Learning to play an instrument makes you feel empowered, teaches you that you can teach your body and your mind to do new things, gives you a more nuanced understanding of the subtle (and not subtle!) beauties of sound, and gives you a language to express anything you're feeling (arguably one more capable than spoken words). Being able to help other people access these moments of growth and gain these tools for expression and feeling is my favorite thing about my work as a music instructor.