We are all musical beings. Music is the birthright of every human being on this planet. Modern society tends to place a huge emphasis on the importance of being “good” at music. As if there are those chosen few who are qualified to be musicians, and the rest of us had better be satisfied to enjoy our favorite music on Spotify, and by attending the occasional show. I couldn’t disagree more. If you are moved by the music that you hear; if music does something to your heart, then you have just as much right as anybody to pick up guitar and learn to play.

Unfortunately, when it comes to learning music, a lot of us have some “unlearning” to do. Many of us carry baggage from childhood, when we may have been told that we couldn’t sing, or that we weren’t musical, often by well-meaning adults in whom we placed a great deal of trust.

I see learning the guitar as much more than training our ears to hear the notes and our fingers to fret the strings. In a very real sense, learning music is about learning to reclaim the childlike wonder of music that we were born with, and to embrace harmony, rhythm and melody, on our own terms.

As someone who is currently on this life-long journey, I place great emphasis not only on teaching the fundamentals of guitar playing, but on providing a safe, supportive, encouraging setting as well. Improving at anything meaningful involves taking risks and making mistakes. Selecting a teacher means picking someone with whom you feel comfortable taking these risks and make these mistakes.

I am honored that you are considering choosing me for that role, and you have my heartfelt commitment to take that responsibility seriously always.

Musically,

Forrest Sallee