My Personal Music Mentors
For the majority of of us in the arts and related sectors, mentoring plays a huge part in the learning process. Even those who pursue a college education will usually mention some mentor as a key to their growth.
I’ve had several music mentors (my primary art form), and they usually fall into one of two categories: those who taught me the art of making music, and those who gave me opportunities to grow in music.
Among those who taught me music, I had 4 private piano instructors between age 9 and my sophomore year of college. Each and every one played a part in my development, but one in particular stood out as a mentor more than the others. While three of my music mentors concentrated mainly on method and expression, my instructor through high school recognized my gift in songwriting, and being a songwriter herself, tailored my training to include theory and contemporary songwriting, as well as classical training. Rather than just take me through a system, she took an interest in me as a musician and sought to develop me as an artist.
As a composition major in college, I also had personal instruction with two composition teachers – and again, one of the two stood out as a mentor in music. He took notice of my strengths and weaknesses as a songwriter, and challenged me in particular ways to help me develop. He is more of a coach than a teacher and he is willing to work with every aspect of my humanity not only as a composer but as a person as well.
On the other hand, I also encountered mentors who never taught me something but instead they gave recognition to my talent and gave me the chance to use it and develop it. As a young man of music I invested most of my time in the church and the individuals in the choir allowed me to use the musical and recording instruments which gave me room to hone my skills and learn from my shortcomings. They were more than cheerleaders to me, they were the people responsible for laying the foundation of my success.
In thinking back on my music mentors, 2 realizations stand out. First of all, concerning the mentors themselves – the ones who affected me most were the ones who took a personal interest in me and in my development, both as a musician and as a person. Second – looking back at my growth, I believe my mentors played more of a role in my education than my collegiate studies..Despite the fact that my teachers and mentors are in the college setting, their personal interest in me helped me grow into a better musician than homework and classes.. College was helpful in my development, but my music mentors were pivotal in my development.



