Juan R  
Instruments: Guitar, Voice, Violin, Viola, Ukulele, Mandolin, Acoustic Guitar
Styles: Classical, Jazz, Pop, Folk, Latin, Salsa, Merengue, Latin Jazz, Bossa Nova, Mariachi

During 2010, heavy rains had left thousands of poor people homeless. Faced with this situation, I wondered how I could personally support to that part of the affected population. I thought about teaching math to children or teaching music. I decided on the second and when I told another group of coworkers, they voluntarily bought the Cuatros (Venezuelan Guitar) so that every child in the refuge had their new toy: a Venezuelan musical instrument. Well, the indiscipline, the environment of family violence and the social insecurity that lived in that refuge, became what is evident in the previous image. It was the first time these children had seen a Cuatro. Some rules applied, for example, to enter the classes, we agreed as a condition, finish the task of the school and to keep the musical instrument in good physical condition. When I heard to Jose (a pre-teenager in the shelter who at his age was already bus-assistant worker) saying that he could now ride on the buses to play the Cuatro and gain money, on the one hand, I knew that Jose had found how with the Cuatro He could have a form of life, what seemed to me an advance, but in turn I understood that I had to do a class exclusively to show videos of professional Cuatro Players with the aim of make them understand that people have a world possibilities of with music, beyond riding on the bus to sing. That day the classroom was a movie theater and the face of those refugee children was of utter amazement and happiness. One exciting moment was to listen to those children sing and play the Venezuelan National Anthem "Gloria al Bravo Pueblo".

For beginning students, I typically start with basic elements of Music: scales, melody, harmony and rhythm, with the interactions of musical instrument, e.g Guitar. Once the student has progressed to have a grasp of the fundamentals, I will begin to introduce solo repertoire appropriate for their first performance. I will try that repertoire is good for the students, according to their likes and trending. I try to find out what the student is interested and what motivate them. The most important are to find the passion for music.