What its Like to Be a Music Teacher
- bobestvina
- Mar 14
- 2 min read
Here are some excerpts from my interview with Canvas Rebel about being a music teacher. Read the full article here.
Interviewer: Can you take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers?
I offer music lessons to community members, at-risk youth, and seniors. I also link people who want to volunteer to teach music with places looking for that, like our juvenile detention center and local teen rehabs. Music builds self-confidence and self-expression, and learning to play and perform can provide life-transforming experiences and epiphanies that are hard to quantify. These could include someone in midlife who awakens a dormant excitement for life when learning an instrument. Or it could be a teen in juvenile detention who, while playing the djembe drum in a drum circle, feels a connection and presence so powerful that it gives them a feeling of hopefulness about their upcoming court hearing.
I am proud when I hear things like “I felt comfortable playing in a drum circle when you are there” from a student I taught at the juvenile detention center. Also pretty proud that as a non-profit, we got our first grant for $10,000 back in December. This shows other people believe in our work.
Have you ever had to pivot?
I was trying to work things out as a public school teacher and it just wasn’t working. It was actually a 7th social studies student of mine who inspired me to step back from social studies and pursue music. In the middle of a quiet work time, he raised his hand and in front of the class said, “I’ve heard your music online, you’re pretty good. Maybe you could teach music?” After work I thought about what he said. Over the next year, I saved up some money to be able to leave public school teaching, took a college course to help me get certified to teach music, and started a music teaching business. So it wasn’t my idea to pivot in my life, it was a wise 7th grader’s!
Contact Info:
Website: https://www.giftsofmusicnw.org
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bo_bestvina/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GiftsofMusicNW
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