There is a new guitar teacher in town. Actually, Bryan Briggs is still in the process of relocating to the Pontiac. “It is a gradual transition,” he told THE EQUITY.
The experienced guitarist is committed to the move, but is winding down his busy music school in Smith Falls. For the moment, he will be offering lessons in the Outaouais on . . .
weekends, but he is hoping to make a complete transition to life in the Pontiac as quickly as possible. “I have fallen in love with the beauty of the area, as well as the outreach and connectedness of the community,” he said.
Briggs is offering music lessons in the home studio he has set up in Île-du-Grand-Calumet, where he will be teaching on weekends (for now). The experienced guitar teacher is looking for private guitar students of all ages and levels who are interested in taking weekly lessons.
Briggs says he will be able to reside full-time in the Pontiac as soon as he has enough students at his new abode. At the moment he is starting with a weekend teaching schedule, but will begin reducing his time in Smith Falls as he gets more teaching days in Île-du-Grand-Calumet.
The new music studio is already set up and ready to go. The room is bright, and the window has a picturesque view across the Ottawa river toward Campbell’s Bay. “I have everything situated so I can teach in a beautiful setting, and when I’m not teaching I can use the space to record videos,” Briggs explained.
His excitement is evident when he speaks about his prolific YouTube activities. He has a channel entitled Yes You Can Play Guitar, for which he has posted an impressive 75 videos since August, 2020. “There are lessons, and I talk about gear. It’s a music-related channel,” he said.
Briggs has a welcoming disposition, and a lot of pedagogical experience. He has been a full-time music teacher for over 20 years, and he understands how important it is to make music lessons enjoyable, but also challenging: “When I was learning, I studied by taking private lessons. I was ambitious, so I studied with some really high-level people, and I practiced regularly in order to become an accomplished player.
But, I also know most people don’t have the same level of determination and O.C.D. as I do,” he said, laughing. “I understand my students are going to have different goals, different musical tastes, different time commitments, and different abilities. They are all bringing different things, and wanting different things.”
However, Briggs did have one common agenda for all of his pupils: “My goal is to set them up so they can learn in a self-directed way — I can give them useful information and resources, and show them how to practice so they use their time effectively. With those tools, my students are able to learn beyond their lessons.”
Briggs is comfortable with a variety of different musical genres, and he teaches acoustic and electric instruments. “I am flexible about what students learn, and how they learn it, and I’m happy to teach all sorts of styles, music theory, and music notation,” he said.
Besides running a music school, Briggs has quite a lot of experience as a performing musician. “I used to play in bands, a lot.” When asked if he would miss being closer to performance opportunities, he responded “I am taking a break from playing music professionally — there is a lot of work and stress that I’m happy to leave behind.” However, the enterprising musician is looking forward to collaborating with local musicians in other ways: “I want to make connections with other musicians here, but for educational purposes more than for playing live music events. I want to connect my students with a variety of great musical experiences.”
Briggs is excited to get started. Anyone interested in taking guitar lessons is welcome to call him at (613) 206-6044.
