Jacob deGroot-Maggetti

My name is Jacob! I play a variety of instruments (mostly those with strings) in a variety of genres, though these days my main focus these is traditional dance music, with a particular emphasis on Irish and Quebecois styles. I regularly play music on fiddle, mandolin and guitar for contra dances and English country dances across Quebec and Ontario.

At the University of Waterloo, I studied violin with Lance Ouellette and choral conducting with Mark Vuorinen, sang in and directed choirs, played guitar and bass in the Stage (Jazz) Band, and played in the school's Balinese Gamelan Ensemble.

At McGill University, I studied the music of Canadian fiddle player Oliver Schroer under the supervision of Jonathan Wild.

My particular expertise is in the intersection of music theory and trad (i.e., "fiddle") music.

My teaching style is flexible and adaptable. I strive to understand a student's goals, interests and current level of understanding, and choose what and how to teach based on this. I seek to help students develop multiple ways of understanding the music they learn, giving them the tools they need to comfortably handle new musical situations. I aim for my lessons to be journeys of discovery—I'm always ready to go off and investigate something that has piqued a learner's curiosity, knowing that people learn most effectively when they are exploring something they are truly interested in.

An example of this approach in action: several years ago, I taught a guitar student who initially approached me asking for jazz guitar instruction. After several lessons of trying different things to figure out what he was really hoping to learn, we ultimately fell into a pattern of figuring out all the parts of a piece of music he chose, by ear, together each week.  Unprompted, he sent me message telling me "I really like the way you think about music and your lessons are exactly the way I think people should be learning music." His situation was unique (as is every student's!) and demanded a unique approach (as every situation does!)—it took us a while to find what worked, but ultimately, we found the lesson style that suited him best!