Tim Collins, B.Mus, BA
About Tim
Tim is a Toronto guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He has a Bachelor of Music degree from Humber College in Jazz and Commercial Music. He also has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Popular Music from Western University, where he studied guitar, music theory, popular music history, songwriting, analysis of popular songs and recordings, desktop music production, and professional audio in media. Tim has also completed a diploma in Music Production from Trebas Institute.
Tim has been teaching acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and basic singing techniques for over six years. He enjoys working with kids, teenagers, and adults to encourage their love for music, develop their skills, and understand music theory. His younger students consistently enjoy learning with him. He is passionate, approachable, patient, and likes to have fun during the lesson!
Tim's music lessons are always eclectic and engaging. They focus on applicable music theory, songwriting, popular music history, and the science and physics of sound. Lessons with Tim focus on the areas that are of most interest to you, the student, and are taught at a comfortable pace.
Tim's lessons mostly follow the desires of the student (or, in some cases, the student's parents!). Tim's students include those preparing for a college or university music audition, those who want to learn how to play jazz, those who want to play songs they hear on the radio, those who just want to jam out on the blues, and those who are picking up a guitar for the first time. (What is this thing?)
Tim likes to set goals for his students by creating four to six-week guitar program modules that are designed together with the student, to be completed one at a time. This ensures that the material is exactly what the student wants to learn, and that timeline goals are set. Whether it's pop, rock, folk, indie, blues, jazz, or any genre, Tim makes sure the student builds the right skills to be able to play the music, overcome performance anxiety, share it with friends and family, and feel a great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.
Phylosophy Of Teaching
My philosophy of teaching can be summed up in the following statement—Feed the fire of desire, open the floodgates of ability, tap into ultimate potential, and have fun!
"I think the wide variety of subjects available for the student to learn, make the lessons exciting, interesting, and fun. There are many different pieces to the puzzle when we talk about making music, and I try to cover as many as possible.
"Music theory forms the building blocks of all popular music, classical music, and jazz. To understand and listen for music theory, including relationships between notes and chords, opens doors for learning new songs, as well as skills like playing by ear. It also opens doors to composing your own original musical material. Once you get new sounds under your fingers, the imagination really starts to work.
"When learning to play and sing popular songs of the 20th Century, it is fascinating to know the history behind the music. Artists like Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Patti Smith, The Ramones, and Prince were in the public spotlight for all kinds of reasons. Their music reflects the time period, as well as their own character. A student can discover even more about the music he or she is singing or playing when they learn the story behind it, the context, and the cultural impact it had. My goal is to inspire excitement and motivation in the student through these accessible and cool historical topics.
"I'm looking forward to meeting you and starting you on your way, in whichever direction you choose to go. Whether you are a beginner, intermediate, or advanced musician, I can show you all you are searching for. When you combine all the different elements (or even just some of them), they in turn can lead you back to areas you want to improve and explore more. You'll enjoy everything along the way, and will be glad you took the initiative to start.
"My philosophy of teaching can be summed up in the following statement—Feed the fire of desire, open the floodgates of ability, tap into ultimate potential, and have fun!"
—Tim Collins