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Member Info: Meghan Beauchamp - You Can't Lose What You Don't Have |
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Name: Meghan Beauchamp
Focus: Classical
Location: Sarnia, ON Canada
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Another Boring Classical Musician
I am 28. I've been playing classical guitar since I was 15. According to my mother, I wanted a guitar when I was 2 and a half and refused music lessons unless they were for guitar or drums. I still think she's crazy. I would give anything to have had piano lessons as a child. I guess it's all hindsight. I know how good it would be now to have had them then. Guaranteed, I wouldn't have seen the benefits then. But I digress. I am still working away on my guitar skills. I am a classical musician. I often think how cool it would be to jam with friends, then I remember, that I could if I felt like learning how to. Then I go play another classical piece. I teach guitar at vanGoozen Music. Some may see me on activebass.com as well. I'm working on bass, too. I was accepted to university for a double major on guitar and tenor saxophone. I decided I was too poor and unprepared to be there, so I stayed home and didn't practice. I was working a lot and sleeping in my brief spare time. I am still, 9 years later, trying to recover my ability. Fortunately, the theory never left me and is my upper hand in teaching. The lesson here is this: never stop playing. Even if you don't want to be famous or a professional musician, always practice. For every day you don't, I swear you need 2-4 days to make up for it.
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I maintain that a Classical Musician can play anything.
When I first started teaching, I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to teach what students wanted to learn. I don't know a lot of alternative music. I don't particularly like it. But my colleague and former instructor told me, "Relax. You play classical. You can play anything." He meant that I have the skills to adapt. I have the theoretical base to understand whatever comes across my music stand. I maintain that note reading is vital. I encourage my students to learn it. The key to any success in music, though, is to play. Practice really does make perfect.
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Musical Influences
• Franz Schubert - the reason for my piano lessons now.
• Liona Boyd and other classical guitarists.
• Valerie Lloyd-Watts who in two hours gave me so many tips to teaching children.
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Favorite Recordings
• The Schubert Impromptus
• Purcell's Dido and Aenas
• Delibes' Flower Duet from Lakme
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