About Me
Meet Michael
I didn’t attend music school until later in my musical journey. I started playing guitar at 14 and learned the hard way in mid-1970s England; most teenagers couldn’t afford lessons unless their parents had money. Mine didn’t. I formed bands with my mates; we rehearsed above my father’s dry-cleaning shop. After many months, we had the beginnings of a cover band playing the music of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Yardbirds, and Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac and others. We got gigs in some of London’s smaller clubs or restaurants; we rarely got paid. Most of the time we were background music, or just a nuisance to the customers. We were competing with bands with better equipment and better musicians. But I persevered and spent time perfecting what, to me, was just an enjoyable pastime that would not interfere with my academic pursuits.
After my teen years, I got accepted into one of England's finest universities, where playing music was a serious undertaking and joining a band was for the musically capable. At about that time, many up-and-coming professional bands began to play what was called the university circuit: Wings, Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Dr. John, and many others. What became clear to me by watching these bands was that good equipment was as important as the musicians' craft, and that music was about sound as much as musical theory and talent. I started to take an interest in the science of electronic sound. I would visit Music stores in London and talk to the technically knowledgeable sales staff to understand what bands were buying and why. This fit in well with my university studies in Physics.
After graduating, I got married to a woman with two children. I entertained the family with children's songs, and when they were old enough to hold a guitar, I taught them to play. I quickly realized that patience was the only approach to take to keep a child's attention and advance their skills. Children can learn musical skills quickly at a young age if the teacher can create the appropriate environment, and the result in many situations can amaze me.
I emigrated to Canada, and after a few years, I wanted to study guitar seriously with a professional guitarist and teacher. I was introduced to Brian Murray who taught me the ways of a professional guitarist. Over the course of three years with Brian, one hour a week, my playing greatly improved; I was able to understand the composition of songs and the underlying chord structures that please the ear. In addition, my dexterity and sense of timing also improved.
In 2014, two well-known local musicians and I started a music school in the city of Newmarket, Ontario called Stellar Music Conservatory. We began with 320 students and 27 teachers with 12 classrooms. I was an owner, an administrator, and a teacher. I taught guitar to approximately 12 students per week for three years.
Two musicians associated with the school and I formed a band called the Skullcaps. For about five years, we had many gigs around Toronto and the GTA, entertaining people with a variety of cover songs. The band never really broke up, but the singer went out on his own and was able to make a living entertaining children all over North America.
Due to changing business climates, I have had four different careers in my life: material scientist, manufacturing engineer, systems analyst, and business analyst, but the one constant during that time was my love of music and the guitar. This is why, now at the end of my career, I chose to start a business dedicated to teaching guitar.