Satchel Henneman

Satchel began teaching youth guitar at a community center and tutoring through his undergraduate college in 2014. Later, while earning his masters at the Yale School of Music in 2018, he taught a small studio of undergraduate and non-major graduate students. After graduating, he began his current faculty position at Concordia Conservatory, where he oversee a studio with a broad range of age, tastes, and ability. Satchel’s teaching method has always emphasized both the development of a well-rounded musician, familiar with aural skills, theory, technique, history; and personal development through forming time management skills, overcoming injury or frustration, and the practice of planning. It is his belief that these aspects are not mutually exclusive, that building on one of these strengthens the other.

Given the eclectic preferences of guitar students over the years, Satchel has developed an approach to teaching that embraces and seeks to nourish the individuality of a student’s musical identity. Whatever the desired material is, whether it be Rolling Stones’ songs, tracks for Disney’s Descendants, or an Albeniz solo, he teaches basic musical concepts through contextualization. This often takes place in learning the scale, chord progressions, and form associated with the song, the history of the creator, and a network of songs that relate to it. Additionally, any time playing the instrument is an opportunity to examine and work on technique; he will often abstract exercises based on passages of these songs in order to refine their playing.