Introduction: My name is Andrew Seligson, I am a composer, guitarist, producer, DJ, TED speaker, and educator from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. My formal training is in music composition and guitar performance. I have written, produced, performed, and recorded multiple original operas, symphonies, orchestral works, chamber works, multiple albums, DJ live sets, as well as performed in various contemporary ensembles as I traveled for my work at the United Nations.
Teaching music, is both a science and an art. It is a science in that there is a flexible but objective method for learning. For example, guitar is a highly visual instrument for most proficient and professional guitarists. Visualizing the fretboard both vertically (chord structures and harmony) and horizontally (scales and modes) takes careful dedication and is exacting from a pedagogical standpoint as well as for any new student. Further, doing so across all twelve keys, and ultimately connecting ‘vertical’ and ‘horizontal’ approaches to the instrument and to music more broadly takes a committed, scientific, and determined attitude towards the instrument.
Further, connecting concepts drawing from music theory, transcription of other artists’ vocabulary, and even improvisation into a connected audio-visual approach to the guitar can take years of selfless and even self-critical study.
Teaching music is an art precisely for this reason. As musicians, we are asked to spend a great deal of time alone focusing on our craft. The intensity of dedication to continue advancing with this instrument considering all the distractions provided by social media, social circles, work, etc., is unlike any other discipline I know of for students of other domains. And, as teachers who have moved through this process, we must be empathetic to students both young and old who are driven by other, sometimes overlapping, and sometimes diverging responsibilities and interests. I have found that the truest way to have students commit to the guitar as a science is to inspire the artist in them. This means engaging meaningfully with the student via the question: ‘Why?’. “Why do you like this artist or piece of music”? “Why did you choose to play x instrument”? “What about this piece guitar solo inspires you”? As you can imagine, we have to carefully draw on and continue to inspire the intrinsic motivation a student has for the instrument, while also channeling that motivation into genuine learning over time. This is no easy task! That said, achieving this balance with each student, on a personal note, is highly rewarding.
Just as music students bring an intrinsic motivation for all things music, I bring an intrinsic, careful combination of patience, encouragement, and genuine love of teaching to any music student of any level.
