Joe Schmid
About
I absolutely love teaching music! After over 20 years of teaching, performing, writing, and recording in all styles/genres, it continues to be a great adventure. It is a joy to pass this on to others...especially seeing my students that never touched the instrument going on to be very proficient players.
I take teaching seriously, but definitely try to make it enjoyable for the student. I studied classical guitar in college, but was playing everything from Van Halen to Jazz to Country & Blues before that. Currently, I'd consider myself a flat out musical mutt...enjoying anything and everything. The love of guitar has also expanded to a multitude of instruments that I record, gig, & teach with.
Guitar / Music Theory / Piano / Voice / Mandolin / Ukulele / Banjo, etc. Instructor
July 2019 - Present
Analyst and Product Specialist for Taylor Guitars. Dream job of analyzing the global guitar industry while playing guitar for Taylor's road shows.
Jan 2007 - Present
Teaching guitar, voice, piano, mandolin, banjo, ukulele, and more independently. Develop custom made lesson plans on a per student basis.
Guitar / Music Theory Instructor
Jan 2003 - Oct 2006 Kidder Music
Took a guitar studio that had four students enrolled and increased it to thirty two students of all ages. Also taught bass guitar, keyboard theory, and music theory.
Guitar / Vocals
Aug 2000 - May 2006 Casual Man - Band
Played guitar and sang in a Budweiser sponsored band covering classic to modern rock. Also did session and songwriting work with other members of the band.
Music studies
Aug 1998 - May 2001 Missouri State University and Illinois State University
Took pedagogy coursework on piano, flute, trombone, saxophone, clarinet, plus studied classical guitar and sang in choir.
Guitar Instruction
Sep 1996 - Apr 1997 Southern Illinois University - Carbondale
Taught group guitar class of students 18 and older.
I have an entire library of books at home and make recommendations based on each student. The lessons are customized to fit the student's goals.