Κοκορεύομαι! (trans: "I'm bragging!")

Last week in my private Greek zoom lesson I learned the verb κοκορεύομαι which means “to brag” — perfect timing because expertise.com has awarded me Best Guitar Lessons in Nashville -- 5 years in a row!

And a big thank you to distinguishedteaching.com for their very own Best Guitar Lessons in Nashville award -- it's a lot to live up to, but I'll do my best :)

Making music is a joy, so my first job is not to mess that up! My approach is flexible and collaborative, putting the focus on what each individual student is interested in learning (motivation and inspiration are key), and my goal is to work as hard as possible while having as much fun as possible :)

Unfortunately, the idea of “fun” doesn’t get the respect it deserves. After all, isn’t that really just for kids? And what do they know about learning (hint: a lot!)? We associate maturity and adulthood with, among other things, discipline, hard work, and the ability to delay gratification which equip us to power through difficult things that may take a while to pay off. This is essential since most worthwhile goals require sustained effort over time. The problem is that a lot of instruction winds up in a lopsided approach which over-emphasizes the discipline side and becomes a dry, joyless slog — no wonder so many students quit!

If we’re going to learn and grow, we will, of course, need to work hard to embrace the challenge of developing new skills, both physical and mental. To me the secret to success is finding just the right balance of working hard and having fun.

When we’re enjoying what we’re doing, our brains are smarter, more relaxed, and more open than when we are feeling anxious and defensive, so we can easily connect with our child-like curiosity, better tolerate the inevitable stresses and frustrations that come with stretching outside our comfort zone, and more fully engage in the natural process of learning.

One important advantage of private lessons is that I can home in on what makes for the best balance of hard work and fun for each individual student: his/her learning style, personal preferences, musical taste, goals, etc. We are all different, and figuring out how to create the best learning experience for each person is what has kept my job so interesting for over fifty years (no, I’m not 85 years old — my dad was also a guitar teacher, so I got an early start!).