Songwriting with Coyote E.

I've been a passionate musician since a young age, starting on violin in fourth grade and beginning to self-teach guitar around the same time. I've always been a dedicated multi-instrumentalist, preferring to learn principles and theory that I can bring to any instrument in any style. It's not just playing music that fascinates me, it's the entire process and inner workings of musical art. I majored in Music at Goucher College, playing in their classical and jazz ensembles while taking a primary focus on theory and composition. I spent some time there teaching, music and otherwise, as a Supplemental Instructor for music theory classes and a tutor in the Writing Center. I deeply enjoy the process of spreading knowledge, and I feel that it's the most valuable thing I can do with the skills I've gained. I have complete confidence in common-practice classical theory and standard jazz theory, as well as knowledge of set theory and tone rows and extensive experience analyzing and working within the twelve-tone harmonic space. Of course, if that all sounds complicated and intimidating, I can scale it way, way back, starting with your level of theory knowledge and working from there. I take pride in being able to explain musical concepts in a clear and perceivable way, even if you don't know any of the weird fancy terms you hear music people using. In our lessons, I'd like to either start working with something you've already started or immediately start working on a piece collaboratively. I don't believe there's a way to meaningfully study theory and songwriting without, you know, writing a song. There may well be exercises involved, but they'll always be in service of something you want to learn to do. I use a student-led approach to instruction, where I talk with you about the progress you're trying to make, then look for what I can offer to facilitate that. In general, I won't know what our lessons will consist of until I meet you and find out!