Instructor Qualifications: Mark Olson

About My Background in Education:
Unlike most guitar teachers, I hold a Master of Education-Professional Development degree (ME-PD), earned at UW-LaCrosse.  While my focus and certification was in language arts (grades 6-12), many educational concepts and instruction techniques apply across many subjects, not to mention life itself.  I also earned a Master of Arts (MA) from Ohio University (in French Literature), and a Bachelor of Science (B.S) degree from UW-LaCrosse.  Educational concepts I try to apply at lessons are listed below.

About My Background in Guitar:
Like a lot of kids, I wanted to play guitar at a young age. (It is and was an extremely popular and versitile instrument.) I studied with various teachers, on and off, usually focusing on finger-style technique, nylon string guitars, and genres like folk, blues, a little classical and a little samba.  In college, I enrolled in classical guitar studies at UW-La Crosse and studied under Dr. Richard Pinell for two years. As a grad student and later while a public school teacher, I continued to play and study guitar as a hobby. I dabbled in folk and fingerstyle guitar.  I appear on a couple CD's as an accompanist to Jeffrey Foucault (www.jeffreyfoucault.com) and I arranged a song ("Seems Like to Me") that appears on Kris Delmhorst's CD titled "Strange Conversations." (www.krisdelmhorst.com)  Other teachers who had strong influences were John Chen in the Wausau area, and John Horne in the Ohio area.

My Present and Future in Guitar:
Most recently, (2009) I recorded and released a CD of 16 standards I arranged for solo guitar.  The first pressing is now sold out, but a couple track samples are available on this website.   For several years, I have devoted most of my attention and practice time to playing and studying solo jazz styles.  Arranging jazz standards for solo fingerstyle guitar (also known as "chord-melody" guitar) is important and rewarding for me.  I have written my own solo guitar arrangements for "Georgia," "Take Five," "Corcovado," "Girl from Ipanema," "They Can't Take That Away," "I'm in the Mood for Love" (the one Alfalfa sang on Little Rascals), "Norwegian Wood," "Four," "Moonglow," "Dindi," "Stars Fell on Alabama," "Both Sides Now," "Blue Moon" "Theme from Mash," "People Get Ready," and many more.  A few of these appear on the aforementioned CD.  I have written a few tunes, my favorite being a bluegrassy adaptation of Pachabel's Cannon in D.  I call it "Loose Cannon."   I often perform live on Sunday mornings at the Cafe Carpe's brunch (Fort Atkinson).  Check the "Events" page on this site for more info about that.

Educational Approach:  Here are a few examples of educational concepts, strategies, and techniques that I apply or consider when teaching:

  • Self-Responsibility:  Students, through regular attendance AND PRACTICE are responsible for reaching their goals.  Just like training for track and field, football, or swim team, time spent practicing is directly proportional to rate of progress.  However, unlike organized sports, there is no required after-school practice session.  Students, with the help of parents, need to set their own practice times.  A regular time is best:  after school, before dinner, after dinner.  
  • Learning by Doing:  At lessons, students immediately apply new techniques and knowledge.   I don't talk for 30 minutes.  We play as much as possible.
  • Self-Evaluations:  I often ask students to evaluate their own progress and performances, strengths and weaknesses.
  • Instructor Assessments:  It is important to acknowledge student progress  and success (or lack thereof).   It is also necessary to point out problem areas and to show ways to correct problems or improve performance.
  • Attainable Goals:  One goal at lessons is to always have fun and be positive.  Reasonable, attainable short-term and long term goals are set to both motivate and monitor progress.  A beginner's goal, for example, might be to play the melody for Yellow Submarine with a steady beat and no mistakes.  An intermediate student's goal might be to play full bar chords with no dead or buzzing strings.
  • Short-term/Long-term Memory:  Information is transformed to knowledge and technique by taking small bites and by using repetition to nurture and grow pathways from brain and ears to the fingertips.  Repetition is key, as is reviewing old material from time to time.
  • Appropriate Pace:  Pace is important to maintain student motivation and avoid negative frustration.  Step by step.  In a group or class situation, pace is set by the class agenda or school calendar and students who need more time are hurried and students who learn quickly are bored.  This is avoided in individual lessons.  Unfortunately, if a student doesn't practice, lesson pace and progress is brought to a standstill, and I ultimately accept no responsiblity for that.
  • Internal Motivation:  Wanting to be the best you can be or wanting to learn a new song you didn't know yesterday.  These are examples of internal motivaters.  In best case scenarios, the student is self-motivated and has a strong desire to play the guitar well and a willingness to put in the work to get there.  I try to find and assign songs and other material of interest to the student to foster internal motivation. 
  • External or "teacher motivation" is in the form of positive reinforcement, encouragement, the assigning of songs the students like, when possible and appropriate, appropriate pacing, maintaining a positive, friendly lesson environment, and setting attainable goals.  Parents, friends, mentors, applause, and competitions are external motivators.  Some students are motivated by performing, and that is one reason I offer recital opportunities.