Chris Cowsill

Guitar & Banjo Teacher

Chris is a multi-faceted musician who has been teaching and playing throughout Southern Ontario for ten years. He picked up the guitar at the age of 12 and began learning Beatles songs. During his teens, he took on guitar, bass and vocal duties in several bands in the Oshawa area. While at York University studying law, he decided that music was his true calling and enrolled at Hamilton’s Mohawk College the next year to study the craft with some of Canada’s master musicians. Upon graduation he began his career in earnest, teaching and performing a wide variety of music around the area. He has played numerous venues, including the Burlington and Brantford Jazz Festivals, and also spent several years with Carnival Cruise Line as an entertainer.

Chris’ teaching approach mirrors his take on playing: “It’s all about versatility. I strive to adapt to every situation and go with what that offers. Every student is different, and every lesson is different. Therefore, I try not to be too rigid in my methods and really just try to open my student’s eyes to various facets of music using materials that they are already familiar with. Whether it’s a Bach fugue or an AC-DC rocker, every piece of music reveals SOMETHING about rhythm , melody, harmony and technique and so that’s what I attempt to point out during a session.

Chris also understands that there is a lot of psychology involved in the learning process. “The first thing I need to do is establish a rapport with the other person and try to figure out what they are bringing to the instrument and what mental processes they are using that can help and detract from the learning experience. Working with kids for the last ten years has really enabled me to boil down abstract concepts into more meaningful, everyday explanations that ANYONE can relate to. For example, if I find out that a student is interested in cars and mechanical things, I try to compare and explain musical or technical concepts with that in mind. I might use a metaphor like, “The picking hand is the engine and the fretting hand is the steering wheel” in an attempt to explain proper hand position and function. I try to use anything that someone already has a background in, to keep them interested and to help them understand.”

Chris teaches guitar, bass, banjo, piano and voice and can also comfortably give instruction in theory and ear-training.