Photo by Katie Coneary.

What is your background with guitar? How old were you when you started and what attracted you to it?

It was the Beatles! I remember when I first heard “I Saw Her Standing There” it just hit me like a bolt of lightening! Love at first sight, once I saw a guitar, I just knew I had to have one. I was nine years old, and I started out playing a steel string guitar made of plywood. The action was really high, and I remember playing ‘til my fingers were bleeding.

Did you take lessons or study on your own?

I lived on a school campus in Connecticut called the Wooster School where my father was headmaster. It was a boarding school for high school boys, so I heard certain students playing and I was exposed to electric guitars and to their music.

A friend of my older brothers named Jeff Stout was, in many ways, my first teacher. We listened to records and figured things out—very much like early Suzuki learning. I was like so many at the time in a few bands and I’m still great friends with the members of my first band. In many respects those early “band” years were seminal to my creative outlook.

How did you learn about Suzuki guitar? Have you taught any Suzuki students in masterclasses or seen any Suzuki students perform?

My two children took Suzuki violin at The School for Strings. The experience was so positive that even though they no longer play the violin, I really think it was one of the better things my wife and I ever did as parents. I was really shocked because I knew nothing about Suzuki. Right from the start I was pretty impressed with the teachers.

The real person who really knocked my socks off in terms of Suzuki guitar was David Madsen. I have a bi-annual, one-day guitar festival called the Yale Guitar Extravaganza. I knew about David’s program and since my children were doing Suzuki, I thought I should have Suzuki Guitar at the festival. Now the Guitar Day at Yale always begins with David’s students and when I saw him working with them I thought, “Wow, this guy is a genius! He’s an unbelievable teacher.” He had a four-year-old play and then he presented a whole group.

Another influence was Norma McNamara. Norma invited me twice to do residencies at her studio—once in Utah and once in Kansas City. Norma absolutely inspired me. I just couldn’t believe the way she taught and all of the tricks that she had, like so many Suzuki Teachers have. And I came home a convert. At this same time I attended a Suzuki flute class by David Gerry whose wonderful and inspirational teaching reminded me of Norma.

Recently I have become friends with a teacher in New York, David Gonzales and have taught a few of his students in masterclasses.

How do you find the Suzuki students, generally?

In general, I’ve been really impressed with the Suzuki students in the following ways: they are always very prepared, they play through the piece very well and with a positive attitude. They seem to have no problem performing which says a lot about their training. I love all the group playing they do and feel this should be encouraged. Like many I’m sure, I have thoughts about what the future of the teaching could include. It should be as forward looking as possible and make the joy of music making a priority.

How and when did you get interested in composing? How did you pursue the interest and training?

From the time I picked up the guitar, I was always composing music. Most of my high school bands did original material. With one exception, I was not in cover bands and that I believe had an effect on my later musical life. I am not a great improviser, but I do have an improviser’s spirit. I have always been a “noodler” and I have always found the guitar and the fret board of the guitar to be a sea of wonder. I find constantly that it’s a magnificent place to get lost, and in getting lost, you find something—something that brings a certain amount of truth to you. The most bizarre combinations of notes can appear.

I have never really studied composition formally. I do bring pieces regularly to friends and other composers to get their opinions. I study and learn an enormous amount from the all the music I perform. For example, Benjamin Britten’s masterpiece the Nocturnal has been a constant composition lesson as well as all the Bach music I have recorded and performed. Composing is one of the most fulfilling and illuminating aspects of my life. In the act of composing I feel very present—the same way I feel on the best moments of performing.

Can you suggest any advice for young guitar students (and their teachers!) interested in getting into composition? What’s a good starting place?

Every year I have a seminar about Etudes with my graduate students at Yale. We discuss what we think an Etude should be and how they’ve influenced our lives. I ask them to compose an etude based on some deficiency that they have. Often it ends up being on what their strength is because they know they have to get up and play in front of everybody!

Everybody has something to say. We all have some sort of music in us that wants to come out. Every year there is somebody who didn’t know they were a composer, and when the assignment is done they say, “I just loved it! I’ve just got to write!” So, I would suggest in the beginning to write a model piece, in this case a model of an etude or a short piece you love. No more than a page or less perhaps to begin with.

Teachers can be of help in this area by discussing the form and phrasing of what ever piece they give to their students from the beginning. In this way the student gets to see how a piece is composed and will be perhaps write some thing similar say ina simple a,b,a form.There are as you know, tons of comparisons you can draw between movies and paintings concerning form for a start.This can help demystify the compositional process and inspire the student to say as I did” hey I can and want to do that!”

So, when you write it is with the guitar in hand and later you write it down? Do you take this approach with your students also?

I normally do compose with the guitar in hand and then write but immediately not for example, the next day. Whatever method you pick to write is fine with me because in the end it’s what you’ve composed that’s important not particularly how you did it.

I urge my students to write their etude down or at least record it with phrasing, dynamics and articulation.They must bring it to some sort of conclusion. Many people have trouble finishing pieces some times because of a psychological block or fear. They’re afraid of not meeting their standards or that once it is written it will be judged in some way.

It’s easy to have a bunch of ideas, but it’s important to complete them. If you can’t write it down, do your best to try because that’s a very important skill to have. You can bring it to your teacher and not be afraid of having an improper rhythm or something you need help with. My advice would be to jump in and then play it for people. Share it because it really will change your life.

You’re a great teacher, a composer and a great player. How do you balance it all?

Well, thank you, I appreciate that. I think you have to be somewhat philosophical about it all and open. As humans, we have choices about what we do and say. If you choose to have a family, I think that’s got to come first. If you choose to have children, between you and your partner, you’ve got to discuss your dreams and aspirations realistically, realizing that everybody’s going to be happier if your home base is working well.

There was some dialog between my children and my wife Rie and I concerning practicing especially when they were studying violin. We talked about it and tried not make it a precious thing—like “Oh, don’t talk to me now I’m practicing!” I just got used to them interrupting me, and eventually, they just didn’t do it. Maybe the Suzuki lessons were helpful there. By practicing regularly and enjoying it you’re setting a good example for your children and students alike. At times, I found it a challenge to see if I could concentrate in the midst of the occasional madness! That having been said, if the house is burning down,it might be a win-win situation to stop practicing!!!

Family life is ridiculously rewarding and it doesn’t exclude practicing well. A lot of people have told me that they think they practice much better after they have children because they have so little time. They get better at goal oriented practicing.

In terms of composition, I’ve started a new practice of keeping a compositional journal. I write down ideas all the time and it seems I’m always kind of composing. Just the other day I was teaching a Brouwer Sonata and I thought, “Oh, I can use that!” So, I made a note—Brouwer Sonata, whichever line, check it out later for a reference, for some inspiration and rubbery!

As far as the schedule, I’ll tell my manager, like I did recently, “Don’t accept anything for this month,” and during that time I concentrate on composing. With composing, it’s pretty much ideas going around the clock, but then I set aside time. The last few pieces I wrote was a big piece for David Russell and a duo piece for steel string guitarist Bill Coulter and I. I don’t write a lot and it can be frustrating when the urge hits hard and there just isn’t enough time.

Another point of concern is learning new repertoire. I don’t have a huge repertoire. That’s mostly because I write and because I’ve taken a fair amount of time to be with my family. Now my children are older so I have more time. I don’t think it’s the time for you to do all the Bach Cello Suites and Lute Suites plus 18 Concerti when you have two small children. It’s just a bad idea. You can still play; you can still set goals for yourself. It doesn’t mean you have to shut down. You just have to be realistic and happy you can play at all!

I know many teachers with full schedules who find it difficult to get any personal practicing in. Can you offer any advice or insight on that?

It’s very important for people to know what makes them happy. Most people who go into music really do actually like to practice. They like the feeling they have after practicing an hour or three hours. It’s a fantastic feeling to be in shape, you know? If you know that about yourself you’ll realize, “I need this amount of hours,” then you can work that out. My wife and I used to have sessions, which I loathed, about planning out the week. I’m more of an improviser, a “Don’t-Box-Me-In” person. But everything went smoother because we planned. I could see look at the schedule and see I’d have to practice between this hour and this hour and just do it. That’s what we did in college, why shouldn’t we do it as adults? You had to practice a certain time; you had to get papers in, so you did it. You don’t leave things to chance.

I think another part of the balance is realizing that you have limitations; everybody does. I think most of us want to be perfect at everything. Sometimes you’re going to be a really good dad, and sometimes you’re not going to. Sometimes you might play a concert that you’re really pleased about, but sometimes you’ll do your best, but it wasn’t the greatest concert.

So, I think it’s just trial and error and beating your self up less! After a while you’ll see what works and what doesn’t. Then it’s up to you to make the choice to be just a little bit more disciplined. Many of us don’t want to do that. It is a struggle but as they say, “once you make a choice you’re free” and you’re always happier. If you don’t do your schedule, if you don’t say, “I need to practice two hours a day,” then you really will build misery into your relationships. You’ll most likely have arguments with people because you’ve pent up all this frustration from not doing what you actually like.

And that’s part of having a home life that works. My family knows that I’m crabby after a few days if I don’t practice. I mean, I take my guitar on vacation. I just like it. I like to practice on vacation; it fun for me! I don’t like a vacation without a guitar. It’s not as fun. That doesn’t mean that I’m playing all day either.

One of the things that used to drive my wife crazy was she would make dinner and she would say “dinner ready in 5 minutes” and I would keep practicing. I’d say, “I’ll be there in 5 minutes! No, I will!!” And I realized to myself, “you know, you’ve got to stop now.” It’s the little selfish things we do that irritate everybody. In the long run you have greater happiness in the above situation by putting down the guitar and going to dinner and you’ll be less hungry! So you can try to please others selfishly, you’ll be better off. Does that make any sense?

Well, these are some good ideas. Do you have anything to say in conclusion?

I think people should have more discussions about burnout. Teachers can get burned out teaching. Many, many of us do. One thing I finally have learned is that I know my limits most of the time, not always!

We also ought to perhaps have seminars about how to manage finances. Everybody’s got bills to pay. Yes, we love teaching, we love the guitar, but we also get paid to do it. What happens is we forget that as musicians, unless we’re superstars, we earn a limited amount of money.

I have a friend who was a businessman on Wall Street. Years ago he took me aside and said, “You know, you lead your life really irresponsibly financially.” Most guitar teachers—some, not all, but I was one—need to think about your life financially and try not to live beyond your means. It would be great if at an early age people really understood that, as painful as it is for musicians. Most of us just don’t want to think about that, but then you get to be 40 or 50 or when you want children, you really pay for it. You have credit card debt and that affects your teaching because you take too many students. Taking on more than you can handle is a problem. Generally, I see people most frustrated in their late 30s and 40s, and they can become bitter.

Not everybody will have a solo career, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be successful. I know many people that play wonderful concerts in a variety of venues. They may not be playing at Carnegie Hall, but they keep growing as musicians. It’s important to realize, as you get older, it’s not easy to practice late at night. Your body changes and it’s hard to practice; it’s a physical activity. So that goes along with burnout—with teaching too many students and not wanting to practice. It’s totally understandable that you don’t want to be like Tarrega who apparently put his feet in the ice (or whatever he did) to keep himself up late at night to practice.

So, burnout should be addressed because we all just want to forget that we do get burned out and that we do need vacations. Sometimes we have a hard time saying “no.” When a parent calls and says, “Oh, my son loves the guitar and you’re such a great teacher …” you have to say, “No, I’m sorry, my schedule is full. I can’t do it.” Even though part of you says, “I need that extra money for … ” You can say, “For the next two years I will teach more than I usually do because I need the money, but then I will cut back.” Enforce limits.

I think we should have more open discussions about these topics, and by doing so we will become better teachers and maybe happier!

Frank Longay reports that the International Suzuki Festival planning is going well. He is encouraging teachers from out of town to bring their students and make the festival more diverse. Dave Madsen and Andy Lafreneniere are organizing kids to come.

Book 7, 9 Report

Frank Longay reports that the revisions are done for Book 9’s Recuerdos de la Alhambra and that he is starting in on Capricho Arabe. Bill Kossler and Seth Himmelhoch finished going over the details of the Book 9 Sor Opus 9. The recording for the Book 7 CD is still in progress, George Sakellariou is the guitarist. The Committee is looking to find a player for Book 9, several suggestions are made.

Committee Membership

Frank Longay suggests that the Committee should start revising Book 1 after Book 9 is done. Previous discussions concerning committee membership included the idea of rotating membership among guitar teacher trainers. The decision was made that the current membership of 5 was manageable for conference calls, but that more members would make the calls unwieldy. Frank Longay wants to rotate off the committee after Book 1 revision work is done.

SAA Conference Update

At this point there are 3 soloists and one ensemble are set to play for Ben Verdery. There is a session set for Ben V. and Ben needs a topic for his talk.

Session topic suggestions for Ben include 1) how to support students who play advanced repertoire (psychological support) and 2) favorite teaching techniques, what does he rely on? Andrea Cannon did an interview with Ben and a topic came up which excited him, namely balancing all his three jobs, teacher, composer, player. All SAA Guitar Committee members plan to do their best to attend this conference.

At this point, I started to wonder how they would be moved from Denver to San Salvador. In the meantime, they would go to my Houston studio while I figured it out. One of the CSI violin faculty members, Lucy Shaw, had driven from Texas for the Institute and had room in her van for the guitars. She drove them home with her and I picked them up from her house. They sat under the counter in my studio. The next Salvadoran festival was scheduled for February 2006, but it was canceled and rescheduled for February 2007.

In the interim, Nelly, one of the Board Members of ASUSAL visited her family in Houston, but it was such a crazy, hectic week that she was not able to take them back with her on the plane.

As February 2007 drew near, I vowed I would find a way to get those guitars on the plane with me to El Salvador. They were donated for that purpose and I longed for them to be in the hands of children where they belonged. I boxed them up all the while fearful of what might happen at the airport, both here in Houston and in San Salvador.

When I arrived at the check-in counter, I was told that the charge for the box over the two-bag limit was $80. I explained about the donations and the program in El Salvador. The agent was sympathetic but said she still had to charge me, but she called a supervisor, and I showed them literature that I had about the “Viva Suzuki!” program.

After all of that, he also said he didn’t have the authority to waive the fee. Everyone agreed I needed to pay the airline $80 for the box. The supervisor walked away and the agent continued checking the baggage, then handed me my boarding pass and said, “Thank you, Good bye.”

I hesitated and said “But I haven’t paid…”

She looked at me very sternly and said “THANK YOU. GOOD BYE.”

I was totally overcome! What a nice gesture!

In San Salvador, the Customs Official was suspicious. He unpacked the box and examined each instrument. He asked for documents, but couldn’t read the information since it was in English.

He called a supervisor over. This man looked at me, looked at the paper and said in Spanish something like, “What’s the big deal? Let her go.”

In a ceremony at the conclusion of the Final Concert, the guitars were presented to Julio Rodriguez, the president of ASUSAL.

Final guitar concert at the IV Festival Internacional Suzuki en El Salvador.

For more information regarding the “Viva Suzuki!” program, contact Gail Seay at gailseay@coloradosuzuki.org

The first topic was a publication update. It is reported that Book 8 is going into production. It should be on the shelves in a couple of weeks. The Bach minuets have been fixed according to our recent discussions.

George Sakellariou will be re-recording the Vivaldi concerto on 1/7/07. Prominent members of major orchestras participated in the project. The committee will review the previous version to make suggestions about tempo and performance details in the new version. The committee will respond with its comments ASAP.

The committee is reviewing the SAA training syllabus. This will be discussed at the next meeting.

Several questions are raised concerning the screening of videos for Institute workshops. Is there an appeal process for rejected videos? Who are the screeners? It is suggested that there should be an appeal process for those whose videos have been initially rejected.

Good news! Ben Verdery has agreed to serve on the honorary board.

Our next call is scheduled for 2/4/07 at 8:00 EST

Members of the Suzuki Guitar community who have concerns that they would like to see discussed at SAA Guitar Committee conference calls should contact one of the committee members.

William Kossler submits these points concerning committee membership:

1. Membership limited to 6.
2. A degree in music is required (this can be overlooked by majority vote of the committee members).
3. Set up a rotation schedule. 2 committee members would move off the committee in September for the period of one year. Committee size is limited to 6; therefore every 4th year 2 people will have a one-year break.

Some issues that come to mind:

1. Coordination of SAAGC and ISGC membership.
2. All committee members should be involved in repertoire changes regardless of their rotation status.
3. The committee will send inactive members the results of committee discussions for approval.

The committee agrees to limit the membership to 6.

The committee agrees that a degree in music be required for membership and that this requirement can be overlooked by majority vote of the committee members.

The committee will coordinate with the ISGC to be sure that our ISGC representative is on the SGC committee as well.

The 6 members will have the final say on repertoire decisions.

The pool of committee members comes from the current committee membership and including all new teacher trainers.

The committee feels that Pam Brasch will be flexible with what the committee needs to do.

How teachers treat other teachers’ students at institutes and workshops

The committee agrees that it is important to respect all students and their respective teachers. As a Master Class visitor, it is important that we as teachers know how to treat other teachers’ students.

Great news! The guitar book six CD is available from Alfred.

The SAAGC chair discussed coordinating teaching points for all the books with the EGC representative. The committee will review the teaching points before being submitted to the ISGC.

Meeting adjourned.

Mi experiencia con el español es el siguiente: tres años de estudio en el colegio y un poco de práctica con la gente de la comunidad latinoamericana durante un proyecto de mi iglesia en Houston. Afortunadamente, puedo entender el español, especialmente cuando me hablan lentamente, y en algunos casos, puedo comunicarme. Cuando llegué, pensé que debería haber estudiado y repasado más para prepararme para el viaje.

Toda la gente que conocí era cortés, simpática y amable. La familia de Nelly compartió su casa conmigo y me trató como familia. Ana Marina fue una combinación de traductora y profesora de español durante el curso.

Los doce aprendices eran corteses y pacientes, y al final de la semana habíamos mejorado nuestras habilidades bilingües. Comenzábamos el día por tocar todas las piezas del Libro 1 porque muchos profesores habían visto la música por la primera vez sólo unos días antes.

Los libros y las grabaciones Suzuki no están disponibles en español y tampoco tienen distribución en América latina. En Norteamérica, los asistentes prospectivos de los cursos tienen que grabar una audición en video para poder tomar el curso de capacitación. Además, deben memorizar los materiales antes del comienzo del curso. En Latinoamérica, la audición de video no es requerida, pero cada participante tiene que tocar todas las piezas de memoria para el professor para aprobar el curso y poder registrarlo.

Los jovenes estudiantes de guitarra en El Salvador no tenían experiencia con las clases en grupo antes de asistir al festival. Se acostumbraron rapidamente a los juegos y el mejoramiento de su técnica. Su actividad preferida fue el juego de postura. Tenían que poner jugetes plásticos en la guitarra y también en los cuerpos y tratar de mantener su posición para que nada cayera. Un día por la tarde, estaban muy estusiasmados de hacerlo y querían sacar una foto de la actividad.

Aunque su mejoramiento durante la semana fue impresionante, cuando tuvimos el ensayo final de todos los grupos combinados, fue de mal agüero. Parecía imposible hacer que todos los niños se pusieran derechos y prestaran atención. Claro que todos los adultos (sus profesores, sus padres y yo) querían que parecieran disciplinados y bien ensayados durante la función. Al final del ensayo, pensé que todo mundo entendería que fue el primer año y sus habilidades de interpretación y representación mejorarían con el tiempo.

My experience speaking Spanish is limited to three years of high school courses and serious effort some years ago with the Latin American community in a church project in Houston. Fortunately, I am able to understand, especially when the conversation is slow-paced, and in some cases, I can make myself understood. When I arrived, I wished I had done more vigorous study and review in preparation for the trip!

Everyone I met was tremendously gracious, friendly and helpful. Nelly’s family opened their home to me and treated me like a member of the family. Ana Marina was combination translator and Spanish teacher for me during the course.

The twelve guitar trainees were gracious and patient, and by the end of the week all of us had improved our bi-lingual skills. We began each day with a play-through of all of the pieces in Book 1 since many of the teachers had not even seen the music until a few days before the course began.

Suzuki books and recordings are not yet available in Spanish or distributed in Latin America. In North America, prospective course attendees make a video audition to qualify for the training and are encouraged to have the materials memorized prior to the start of the course. In Latin America, the video audition is not required, but each participant must play all of the pieces from memory for the Trainer in order to pass the course and register the training.

The Young Suzuki Guitar Students in El Salvador had not experienced Group Class prior to attending the Festival. They quickly got into the swing of playing games and improving their technique. Their favorite was the posture challenge of placing small plastic toys all over the guitar and their bodies and keeping their positions so nothing fell off. One afternoon they were so excited to do this and wanted to make sure they got a picture of it.

As impressive as their improvement was over the course of the week, when our final rehearsal of combined group classes was held, it did not look good. It seemed impossible for all of the children to sit up and watch for instructions. It also seemed impossible for them to remember not to talk to each other during class. Of course, the adults (their teachers, their parents and I) wanted them to look disciplined and well-rehearsed on stage in the performance. By the conclusion of rehearsal, I thought to myself that everyone would understand it was only the first year and their performance skills and stage presence would improve with time.

Book 5 Update

Longay wants to get started updating Book 5. He will send materials to the committee to get the ball rolling.

Guitars—finding better small instruments

Longay is getting advanced youngsters who need higher quality instruments. He says if there is someone willing to pay for it there should be a fine instrument available for them. He says Eduardo Moreno Moore has a better quality small guitar he made for his daughter and he is sending it to him as a sample.

Recordings for teacher trainee status

Question: should we have three levels of audition tapes instead of two for those who need more incremental progress? Or should we stick to the two levels we have now so that people will strive to get the harder piece on tape and rise to a higher level? On the other hand, the Bach Prelude and the Pernambuco Sounds of Bells from Book 7 are significantly difficult. The Committee will table this discussion until next call meeting.

Web Page suggestions

The Committee decided that we should include South American workshops in the Institute listings. The Committee agreed to change the information on repertoire development news by saying that the revised Book 6 is now available. Before the page goes online, the status of the final recordings of the new books will be checked so that the text concerning these recordings can reflect whether the final or the provisional versions are available. The Committee also decided to include on the web page photos of students with excellent posture and hand position.

Report on Madsen’s talk with the SAA concerning a proposed Guitar video

The SAA contact said that the idea sounds very good and the SAA will want to be involved. SAA feels that it would need to be very professional and polished if it were to be used to introduce the method. Madsen agrees to continue research on this project. For additional support SAA said we could approach Warner Bros., Ruben Flores, or anyone who stands to benefit from the growth of the method.

Committee Flow Chart Update

The committee needs to review our flow chart to prepare ourselves for the next meeting. This is an effort to better define our respective responsibilities within the Committee.

The ISGC and Warner Bros. Publications is pleased to announce the publication of Books 5, 6 and 7 of the Suzuki Guitar School which is now available at Warner Bros. as well as from most music outlets. Book 6 has undergone editorial improvements and the reprinted edition is currently available. Revised reprints of Books 5 and 7 will follow shortly. Book 8 will be submitted to Warner Brothers for publication on June 1, publication date to be announced later. To order the edition(s) directly from Warner Bros. contact their retail outlet at (800) 327-7643, ext 1637.

Volume 6 of the Suzuki Guitar School is now commercially available. It can be ordered directly from your favorite music store. A date for the availability of a recording for Volume 7 will posted at this location on the Suzuki Guitar Website as soon as that date is determined.

The recordings were made by noted virtuoso George Sakellariou. The members of the ISGC wish to express our deepest appreciation to all those who contributed to this effort. It is hoped that these works meet the highest standards of musical and pedagogical excellence.

Closing the Interim Teacher Trainer Status for Guitar

Suzuki guitar has seen a steady growth over the years, and there has been an ever increasing need for trainers, especially for Books 1 and 2. In February of 2000 the books for the upper levels of the Suzuki Guitar repertoire were not yet available, making the application process for new trainers impossible to put into place. To meet the need for additional trainers, an interim process of offering Teacher Trainer certification in phases for the guitar was implemented by the SAA.

With the establishment of the Suzuki Guitar Repertoire through Book 9, and with the recent certification of several new guitar teacher trainers, the decision has been made to terminate this interim application process for guitar as of 11/04/00. Current interim trainers have a period of 5 years from the time of interim certification to finish their application process to acquire full teacher trainer status.

If there are any individuals who have already prepared materials for the interim application, these same materials can be used for the full teacher trainer application. Any further questions about the Teacher Trainer Application process specific to the guitar can be directed to William Kossler. For more detailed information on the Teacher Training application process, please see the SAA Audition Guide.