My friend in high school asked me to join a rock band before I’d ever even played guitar. I had a guitar that had been sitting in the corner for months after my mom brought it home for work, so I guess that made me a prime candidate. Fast forward only a few years later and I was playing in multiple bands, practicing until the sun came up, and telling my guidance counselor that I didn’t care what I did in life as long as it included the guitar. 

When I started teaching, I only ever had one goal for each student: to help them find their own motivations. For me, it was the accountability and camaraderie of being in a band that led to the opportunity to perform on stage, write songs, and make records. As soon as my next goal was in sight, practicing became something I couldn't stop doing after 4 hours rather than something hard to start. 

What I learned when I started prioritizing this with students was that everyone’s goals, musical tastes, and motivating factors were so wonderfully different, and so uniquely their own. Some students want to blow off steam with Green Day songs in a band with their friends, while some want to impress their grandkids at Thanksgiving. One student is practicing for music school entrance exams, while another just likes singing in the car on the way to work and wants to nail it for the crossing guard. Helping each student follow their interests and discover what excites them leads to a much deeper and more rewarding experience, regardless of their age, experience, genre, instrument, or professional ambition.

I started Sunburst School of Music in 2011 (formerly Sunburst Guitar Instruction) with the hope of bringing this approach of kaleidoscopic musical exploration to more students. Since then it’s grown out of a one-room teaching studio to a school of 15 rooms, 30+ teachers, and over 500 students. Most importantly, it’s grown in the variety of opportunities that it can provide to students who are looking to discover where music can take them.

–Alex Stanton, Founder