Teaching Music Quotes

I play trumpet. And I took all the music courses in college, so I can also play the string instruments, keyboard, the brass and woodwinds - but only well enough to teach them. If you put a violin in front of me, you wouldn't say, 'My God, that guy can play.' It'd probably sound more like Jack Benny.

I thought I might be a band instructor, someone who plays all the instruments and teaches others.

Both of my parents are actually music teachers.

All my life, I had loved music and been in choir, and I have a degree in music, but I never planned on doing it as a job. I had a realistic perspective on that. I thought maybe work at a church or be a teacher if you wanted to work in music.

I'd like to expand on doing what I love and venture out a bit more. I would like to play consistantly good music. Eventually someday I would like to open up a school and teach kids about music.

I feel that for years of teaching in the country and reading criticism in books, I feel like the things most needed in our culture are the understanding of the meanings of our music. We haven't done that good of job teaching our kids what our music means or how we developed our taste in music that reminds us and teaches us who we are.

I always jump at the chance to mentor kids when it comes to music.

I would have been happy teaching music in schools - I still would be, and I still might be, although I don't know if I'm clever enough.

I never think my music isn't easy until I got to teach it to other people.

If it hadn't worked out professionally, I would be teaching music theory and composition in a small college somewhere and playing drums in a jazz trio at the Holiday Inn on weekends, and I'd be happy there, too.

I will gladly give lessons as a favor, particularly when I see that my student has talent, inclination, and anxiety to learn; but to be obliged to go to a house at a certain hour, or to have to wait at home for a pupil, is what I cannot do, no matter how much money it may bring me in. . . I am a composer and was born to be a Kapellmeister. I neither can nor ought to bury the talent for composition with which God in his goodness has so richly endowed me. . .

We really wanted to circumvent that online learning curve, where it's virtually impossible to use words to explain music.

The only job I'd ever had that might be considered not playing music was teaching guitar, which I did in college for a while, but that still falls in the same category.

It's just a real thrill when you're showing somebody a chord progression or something, and you see that light come on, you know. You see 'em 'get it.'

When I was 17, I taught music; I had 65 students a week, and I did that for a year. So that's pretty regular. But it was great to give the gift of music to people, seeing them learn. It's great to influence young people in a creative way.