Do you have formal musical training?

[Professor1]

...or are you self taught? Some people do well learning on their own. I prefer to have an interactive learning environment, I do better that way. I learn more and I stick with it. I'm not well motivated enough for the self-taught thing. I get diverted too easily.

A friend taught me some basic stuff when I was young, then I took classical lessons. I didn't go to college until later in life, but I've studied both classical and also jazz. I wouldn't have done nearly as well had I gone to college at 18.

[jazzalta]

Yeah, one year of classical piano when I was 10. Actually, I studied composition and theory in university and gained enough credit for a major. But I didn't complete the performance part as I wasn't classically trained on the guitar. Along the way I picked up study with Berklee College of music correspondence courses and distance learning in jazz from other accredited establishments. And a LOT of learning from books and just plain listening.

I'm not a professional educator by any means (though I did teach beginners for 10 years), merely a student who had a great longing to play jazz. I've been at this 35 years and thus have built up a storehouse of knowledge from being "self-taught."

[Professor1]

I'm teaching both beginners and private students now. I'm working on a masters degree, so I can, hopefully, find a job as an actual professor. I already had a career in which I was an auto mechanic; benzes, bmws, porsches, jags, etc. I had to work using my brawn, but it started to wear out, (long story), so now I'm trying to switch to useing my brain instead.

[jazzalta]

hey, what is it with mechanics/musicians? I know a lot 'em. Go figure.