Margot de Costerd
About
I am a dedicated guitar and music composition instructor who loves to work with students to figure out their musical goals and help them achieve them. I have taught various students at the beginner and intermediate levels. I have played lead guitar several bands, from indie-folk to alternative rock. I also compose music for media and I am close to completing my Masters of Arts in Music Composition for Media at Arts University Bournemouth. Music has always been a central part of my life and I hope to share the love I have for it with my students.
Teaching Style
I approach teaching by working closely with each student to figure out their goals and interests. I introduce concepts gradually, building upon the foundation we have built in past lessons. I set realistic practice goals, understanding that we all have busy schedules. I usually assign 1-3 concepts for students to work on at home, at their own pace. Watching students grow is wonderful and immensely gratifying. I always make sure remind students of their growth and accomplishments while urging them to believe in their potential to take on new challenges.
Curriculum
For beginning students I start out with an introduction to the fretboard and tuning the guitar. We then move on to basic chords, strumming and one-line melodies. Intermediate students will move on to more complex riffs, fingerpicking and arpeggios, as well as learning how to improvise using chord inversions and scales. For me it's important that we work on proper technique and musical concepts, but to do so while learning songs by artists that you like. For older students, I will introduce some basic music theory especially if a student is interested in songwriting, but in a non-intimidating and gradual way. For students interested in music production and/or composition - I am happy to incorporate some of those skills into our lessons as well.
For guitar texts I recommend "The Guitar Lesson Companion" Volumes 1 and 2 by Susan Palmer
For Music Theory, Composition, and Music Production, I have many books and texts to recommend to my students based on our individual goals
Credentials & Affiliations
I have taught lessons privately since 2015, in Northampton, MA, Boston MA, and Easthampton MA (current.) I currently teach out of my home studio online
I am in my last year of my masters program in music composition for media at Arts University Bournemoth
I have played lead guitar in several bands for the last 10 years, including my current band, Dollflower, who will be releasing an album in early 2025