We love hearing from our education partners, and this conversation with a colleague in St. Louis was so inspiring we thought we'd share it with you. James McKay told us about his path to becoming a music educator, and the success he's had teaching guitar even though it's not his primary instrument.
I grew up in an under-served community in St. Louis. We were fortunate enough to be taught classical music, and I started on violin, then switched to double bass. I ended up studying music education on scholarship at Eastman School of Music.
I didn't want to come back to St. Louis, but the first gig that opened up was at home. I've been an educator here for 22 years now. I teach in the Jennings School District, a community where every single child receives free lunch. When I joined the district five years ago, there was no string program. They asked me to pilot one, and now, the orchestra program is district-wide: I teach in three elementary schools, the middle school, and the high school.
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James and his 7th grade guitar class. |
When did you start teaching guitar?
Three years ago I found GuitarCurriculum.com. Once I heard the gorgeous sounds of other teachers playing at the Teacher Training Workshop, I fell in love, and couldn't wait to take what I'd learned back to my school. This was my third year attending, and I'll just keep going back.
The guitar program started as an after-school club, and three years ago I began incorporating it into my 7th grade string class. Twice a week, we do classical guitar instead of violin, viola, cello, and bass.
How do you use GuitarCurriculum.com?
GuitarCurriculum.com drives what I do. I'm not a classically-trained guitarist, so the instruction I receive at the Teacher Training Workshops, along with what's online, is my foundation.
One large thing for me is the music. It's so straightforward and approachable that students of various ages are able to catch on without struggling. There's so much music available through the curriculum that it gives the instructor options, which is different from the string program I'm using, where sometimes I have to ad hoc things. As a novice guitarist, I really appreciate that there are few limitations in GuitarCurriculum.com.
In my school, I'm isolated as the only one teaching classical guitar. But when I attend the yearly Teacher Training workshops, I'm part of a community. There are other teachers who are doing choir or band, and they understand what it means to not have guitar as their primary instrument, but to have a love for it and the passion to share it with kids.
Recently, James McKay began his own non-profit called Gateway Music Outreach to provide quality education in schools where it's unavailable. He's looking into adding the Guitar Curriculum into that program as well.
How was your journey into guitar education? We'd love to hear from you!