Jose has been working as a music educator for the past 20 years, including the last 7 years in the UK. He has taught different levels and all ages from primary school, secondary school, young adults to retired people. The opportunities Jose had growing up as a musician were exceptional due to a programme called El Sistema in which he took part in in his home country Venezuela. El Sistema offers free access to music education to all children and young people. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to learn classical guitar but mixed with contemporary music.
Jose has been able to apply this idea often in his work as a professional musician and for this reason he continues to use this idea when teaching guitar to others. It is also very important in El Sistema that everybody has a solid idea of how the harmony works so Jose also emphasises this in his teaching. He teaches in a very dynamic way and while teaching a piece of music Jose ensures that the student understands what is happening in the whole composition rather than just playing the piece. Also teaching them how to apply their own ideas to the music and express this through their playing is important. Jose believes in being immersed in music so when you perform it comes naturally like a language.