Starting at age three, Garrett started playing piano.  Being self-taught, he became familiar with the instrument in a different way compared to structured lessons.  Throughout the rest of his adolescence, he picked up drums, guitar, and finally bass; all self-taught.  It was in high school that he started to get structured training with instruments and music theory, which he continues at The College of New Jersey.  

Since he had learned multiple instruments, he was able to create instrumental accompaniments, which ended up turning into backing tracks for vocalists.  Through the process of composing songs, he also taught myself music production, mixing, and mastering, specifically for Logic Pro X/GarageBand.  The audio was interesting, but he wanted it to be presented visibly, so he learned how to use iMovie; a video editing software.  

A word from Garrett...

Throughout my journey, I am now at Mill Pond Music Academy to offer instrument improvisation on piano, guitar, and drums, the use of technology in music being music software and editing software, and composition, understanding how songs are structured.  I’ll also have jam sessions with students, call and response style, to help students understand their instrument better.
 
Improvisation on piano, guitar, and drums, I feel is a good way to understand music better.  Although the idea of improvisation is freestyle, it is really based on a structure, that structure being scales and licks.  For non-melodic instruments like drums, the structure for improvisation comes from basic rhythms, rudiments, and drum fills.  Improvising challenges the musician to think on the spot and critically using what they already know, then applying it in real time.  Songs that you can improvise over don’t have to just be backing tracks, it can be your favorite songs too!
 
Technology with music is a big game changer in today’s world.  People who have an Apple electronic device have access to music software like GarageBand and iMovie, and for people with Microsoft or Android devices, have access to music software like FL studio or Musescore.  Having prior experience with these DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) myself, I can teach students the basics of them.  This will allow students to have a good knowledge of the DAWs for their future if they ever want to create music, which leads me to the next course I’ll be teaching, composition.
 
Composition is creative and can reflect a person, but if there is no understanding of how a song is structured, it will be much harder to create a song that makes sense.  In this course, I’ll be explaining the construction of pop songs which involves chord progressions, the role of each instrument in a typical band, and writing lyrics.  Composition is a good way to express one’s emotions and can be a healthy outlet to problems in the real world.  As a composer myself, I can guarantee this.  It also opens opportunities for people to work together in making music together, forming bands or collaborating, which is the sole purpose of music in the first place in my opinion, bringing people together.   

I hope to see you "at the pond" this summer!
​Garrett