Summer Session 2010
June: 2- 21 and August: 2 -26
No lessons during July.
Advance payment for entire session (7 lessons) $105.00. Just about a 10% discount! Payment due at first lesson of the session.

June 26 – July 1 2010
National Guitar Workshop McLean, VA

July 11-16 2010
National Guitar Workshop Chicago, IL

Fall 2010 Session
Monday August 30 through Thursday December 16
No lessons on the following dates: September 6 (Labor Day) and November 24 – 25 (Thanksgiving weekend)
Advance payment for entire session (15 lessons) only $220.00. More than a 10% discount! Payment due at first lesson of the session.
Recital Date and Location TBD

Winter/Spring 2011 Session
Monday January 3 through Thursday May 26
No lessons on the following dates: March 21 – 24 (OU Spring Break week)
Advance payment for entire session (20 lessons) only $295.00. More than a 10% discount! Payment due at first lesson of the session.
Recital Date and Location TBD

This info will remain available at: http://www.johnhorneguitar.com/student-resources/

During my freshman year of high school I was listening to a lot of new-wave oriented rock music and playing air guitar around the house. It wasn’t too long after witnessing one of my air guitar solos that my mother gave me the opportunity to try the real thing. I had never considered playing the guitar for real when she enrolled me in private lessons with Pittsburgh-area guitarist Anthony Janflone, but I instantly fell in love with the instrument. I can still remember the night I brought home an old Stella rental guitar from my first lesson. Even just listening to the open strings vibrate was thrilling!

Who are your musical influences?
Some of my all-time favorite guitarists are: George Benson, Lenny Breau, Larry Carlton, Tommy Emmanuel, Robben Ford, Frank Gambale, Paul Gilbert, Michael Hedges, Allan Holdsworth, Pete Huttlinger, Pat Martino, Pat Metheny, Wes Montgomery, Peter Mulvey, Emily Remler, Joe Pass, John Scofield, Mike Stern, Sting, Steve Vai, and David Wilcox. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many of these artists over the years at concerts and workshops and I’ve always been impressed by how down-to-earth and welcoming they are to other musicians and fans. Workshops with Emily Remler and Michael Hedges stick out in my mind as especially formative experiences for me.

Describe your musical style (type of guitar you play, music genre, etc.)
When I play as a soloist I tend to play mostly fingerstyle guitar with a leaning toward well-known jazz tunes and standards. I don’t think in terms of style or genre, however. I just look for pieces that are interesting and fun to play. I find that most audiences are open to hearing a variety of music and that the solo guitar format keeps tunes from sounding too disparate. Fun songs like “Mercy Mercy Mercy” or “Linus & Lucy” tend to be well-received most everywhere.

Depending on the gig I may decide to play a steel-string acoustic or an electric archtop guitar. I like the tone and balance of the steel-string for fingerstyle playing and it allows me to use open tunings more easily than the archtop, but the sound of an archtop just says “jazz” to me. I have a couple of Fender strats and a nice nylon-string guitar too, but they don’t get out much theses days.

What do you find more rewarding? Teaching or Performing? And why?
Teaching is a far more rewarding experience for me. When I’m teaching I get almost instantaneous feedback concerning my job performance. Seeing a student have that little A-ha! moment and then hearing it transform their playing for the better is just such a great feeling. The ultimate reward for me is a great student performance!

What kind of advice do you dole out beginning guitarists?
Allow yourself the opportunity to absorb as much musical experience as you can every day. Some really important things to do include: lose your ego, play the guitar every day, listen to music every day, find opportunities to play and perform with other musicians, try out different styles of music, learn to read music, learn to play other instruments besides the guitar, and finally – sing everything!

You play at weddings and with ensembles…where is your favorite place to perform and with who?
Every gig and venue is different, so it’s really difficult to answer this one. Anymore, I feel like all you can do is practice and show up on time and let the gig happen to you!

Tell me about your experience performing in The Jazztet.
The Jazztet (www.athensjazztet.com) is a jazz quintet consisting of: saxophone, valve trombone, guitar, acoustic bass, and drums. We perform a variety of jazz and Latin pieces rooted in the tradition of the bop quintets of Miles Davis and Horace Silver. Working with the group has given me a level of self-confidence that can only be gained by playing the music regularly with great musicians. All of the musicians in the band are at least a few years older than me and are well-respected in both the performance and education fields. As the youngest guy in the band it’s great to have four mentors to draw on for inspiration and advice.

What are your career plans for the future?
Nothing too different. I really enjoy my job and I plan to continue teaching privately and for Ohio University and National Guitar Workshop. I hope to continue to improve as teacher and to find new ways to reach students of the guitar. I’d very much like to publish more lessons and arrangements in print and on the internet. I should also release a recording one of these days, but I’ve been struggling with the decision of whether it’s worthwhile to invest in producing a physical product like a CD in the age of mp3s.

Luke Abaffy for The Post

Teaching 45 music classes, working with about 600 children and directing a chorus of nearly 40 singers is all in a week’s work for the director of the Athens Children’s Chorus.

Melanie Horne has been directing the chorus for 11 years and is also an affiliate faculty member of the Ohio University School of Music.

“I love seeing the ‘aha’ moment,” Horne said. “When a child makes a connection, like finding their head voice, for the first time.”

Horne’s work with the children throughout the year will be displayed at 7 tonight in the Robert Glidden Recital Hall during the chorus’ final performance of the year. The concert is free and open to the public. The chorus will be accompanied by OU graduate student and clarinetist Brian McLemore, pianist Sara Golden and Assistant Director of the chorus Katie McGonagle.

Although Horne said she has always loved singing, she didn’t have her first opportunity to work with a children’s chorus until her senior year at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.

“I had an amazing choral director in college, and found that I was most passionate about teaching younger children, even though I enjoy – and have taught – choral music at lots of levels,” Horne said.

Horne also teaches general music at East and West Elementary Schools in Athens, and said it’s hard to keep track of her schedule.

“I have a very active, busy day job,” Horne said. “But I always gain energy by working with the chorus. They’re such great kids.”

McGonagle, a senior music education major said she really likes directing the kids too.

“They’re all really cute, and so full of energy,” McGonagle said.

Sometimes that energy gets out of hand, said Golden, a graduate student studying music education. This happens around the same time each month.

“The most interesting thing is to come around the full moon,” Golden said. “The kids’ energy is crazy then.”

Horne said she hasn’t noticed a specific time when the children are less attentive, but rather has learned to always be ready for surprises when working with kids.

“I never know exactly what to expect,” Horne said. “It’s part of the fun of my job.”

Members of the chorus range in age from seven to 14, and have performed with the Singing Men of Ohio, Women’s Chorale and the OU Opera’s production of Hansel and Gretel.

“I love watching the group go from kids who don’t know each other to a connected group who support each other and sing beautifully together,” Horne said.

Photos courtesy of Roger Evans.

Impro-visor
A nice freeware alternative to Band in a Box

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A great blog with lots of stuff to read when you’re not playing guitar.

James Taylor’s 2010 Carnegie Hall Series
I’m sure this will be a great series, I hope it will be broadcast.

Bear’s Battlestar Blog
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John Coltrane Interviews
I was just made aware of these gems. Very interesting to hear.

The Guitar Student Journal
A motivated adult student blogs about his progress studying the guitar.