Asher W  
Instruments: Guitar, Bass Guitar, Ukulele, Mandolin, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
Styles: Classical, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Blues, Folk, Country, R&B, Gospel, Funk, Hip Hop, Reggae, Latin Jazz, Swing, Bossa Nova, Soul, Punk, Avant-garde

I have taught instrument lessons for pay for 7 years, starting with guitar and ukulele lessons for kids and adults at age 16. I since expanded to piano, bass, mandolin, and music theory. These have always been side-gigs, with a couple weekly students at a time. I taught music theory to younger music students (informally but regularly) during my last two years at Swarthmore. I’ve also made a practice of mentoring my musical friends whenever possible in order to hone my communication skills and understanding of the instruments I play.

My first teaching experience, though not musical, was as a martial arts instructor at the Cuong Nhu dojo I attended from age 7 to 18. I was a teacher’s assistant by age 12 and would lead children’s and adult classes up to twice a week by age 14. This gave me experience teaching technique one-on-one as well as leading exercises for large groups ranging from 5 to 20 students. I work occasionally as a middle school math tutor. Since last November I have led what I call an “After-School Jam Session” for a small group of middle schoolers at the Science Leadership Academy Middle School in West Philly. We meet twice a week for 90 minutes and practice experimental techniques to foster musicality and jamming skills. I make up the curriculum as I go along, according to what the kids want and what I perceive to be their weak points. Sessions include breathing/relaxation/meditation, “John Cage jamming” (where we listen to each other very attentively and make sounds on random objects for long periods of time), groove practice, spoken-word poetry, songwriting, and more conventional rock band stuff. I encourage students (and myself) to live their everyday lives musically, listening aesthetically to the world around them and paying attention to their own “inner soundtracks” (imagination). After-School Jam Session serves as a laboratory for me to develop teaching practices that emphasize creativity, empathy, cooperation, and awareness of beauty.

My priority as a teacher is to foster creativity, joy, musicality, versatility, originality, and collaboration skills - to help you express and develop your own musical identity through your instrument. Guided by those principles, we will learn by playing the music that inspires you the most. Nothing is more important than loving what you do! We will balance technical rigor with a deep respect for strangeness. Though the lessons will be moulded entirely to your goals, abilities, and stylistic preferences, every curriculum will rely heavily on ear training and listening skills. In addition to teaching material directly, I prefer to cultivate the skill of teaching oneself. Instead of scripting the direction of the student’s growth I help them to follow their own path by accentuating the qualities that make them special and removing technical roadblocks. My own education straddles many schools (rock, jazz, folk/bluegrass, classical, hip-hop, dance, experimental, funk, etc.), formal and informal. But standardized music education leads to standardized music! We can scrap the heap of the them and take our favorite bits from each to make something new and personal.