Long day of teaching today. I teach about fifteen hours of students a week in two days, so it gives me some long stretches of students.
Although it rocks, and I love teaching people about and how to play music, I have to admit that sometimes it gets very frustrating. A week or two with out much progress, that is okay and understandable... but once I see that you are not really trying or are not that interested in playing the piano? Get out of here, do not waste my time!
Hah... I sound so mean and hardcore here, I am really a super nice teacher... I am just at a loss with what to do with some of my students who seem stuck in a bad practicing rut. I am booking a recital for them to practice for, we will see if that helps. On the opposite side of things, I love it when my students (Kids AND Adults!) get some work done, and show pride in what they have done and are making great progress. They love it, I love it, everybody wins.
I made a short youtube video about how I want my students to practice effectively, in order to see the best results in the shortest amount of time.
Fortunately for me, Youtube loves to thumbnail all of my videos when I look the most ridiculous! It looks like I am singing "oooo"! This is not a voice lesson! Anyways, to all my students, there is no new information inside this video... but if you watch it let it remind you what it takes to really learn something. Don't forget the "Mess around time" though!
As for everything else, I had a rehearsal for a gig this coming Wednesday with Jacob Stickney at Lucid. It is going to be cool, it is always fun to play in Jacob's band. His originals are fun and I love everyone in that group. Hmm, any other gigs of note..? Playing the finish line of a race at 8:00 am Sunday with the Little Big Band (sub-group of the Emerald City Jazz Orchestra), played three private events last week, and am taking the trio down to Astoria tomorrow to play a gig. Rocked the house at Lucid (awesome new local jazz club) with Bridgid Roney and Richelle Gay and Kiranda. For Kiranda's gig there were not many people there, so we got to mess around and all practice our free-styling and what-not. I have also met and performed with May Palmer, Queen of Ivory Soul. What a great front woman she is!
Dudley is playing the Triple Door on July 3rd! Be there or be square. We are also holding auditions for a new guitarist. If you are interested, contact me through my website.
Lately, people have been calling me and asking me what my curriculum is for my piano students. Truth be told, I have studied with a lot of people and in my experience, teachers that put all of their students through the same curriculum are not as effective in the long run, and a lot of the time the lessons seem long, and un-interesting to the students. I understand that music needs to be fun for students. Instead of having a normal curriculum, I try to cater the lessons to each individual student. I teach blues and improvisation to students at a young age, and make deals with students that if 70% of the time we work on stuff that I assign to them, the other 30% of the time we can work on whatever they want -- literally. This can be songs that they want to learn that are on the radio, or from movies, or work on composition, song-writing, whatever they want to do. I have found that this not only helps keep the students excited about studying the piano, but gets them playing and practicing more.
It is also important to me however that my students learn discipline through their lessons, so I require all of my students to practice at least two and a half hours a week while studying with me. One of the most important lessons I teach students of all ages is that their hard work and dedication to a certain task is an asset of extreme value. In a society where all the time people are becoming more and more qualified for their jobs, ideals learned from studying music teach people to work hard for their success.
To hear me play, or check out videos and shows that I have coming up, go to my website, www.mackgrout.com. I have also just been hired as the head piano instructor at the Fremont Music School in Seattle WA. Visit their website here for information on the school.
If you are interested in studying piano with me, visit my website (above) or contact me directly at 360.710.7350 to discuss details. I also know a ton of music teachers, so if you are searching for something else, let me know and I can recommend someone to you.
Below is a little more professional information about me.
Sincerely, Mack Grout
I have been playing the piano since the age of three. After studying classical music intensively for ten years, I started learning blues and jazz piano also, and started playing in bands and with other musicians at the age of thirteen.
I received my bachelor’s degree from Cornish College of the Arts in 2008, where I majored in Jazz Piano Performance, and graduated Magna Cum Laude.
I have five years of experience running a private instruction studio, through my own studio and not through a store.
I have an even deeper teaching history and experience with children, I taught karate and ran karate summer camps at UKO Inc from 1998 – 2005.
I have run workshops on improvisation at local high schools, and community centers in the Seattle area.
I understand the importance of music education in children, and adults, and have had experience teaching students of all ages to enjoy playing their instrument.
I have been working as a professional / gigging musician for the last ten years in the greater Seattle area.
