【Teaching Philosophy】

I believe that learning guitar and music is one of the most satisfying and enjoyable experiences in life. Coming from a classical-trained background and years of study of jazz and contemporary pop music, it is my goal to ensure that all my students have the necessary tools to achieve their own musical goals. No matter what backgrounds the students have or ages they are, I’ve developed a thorough, systematic yet easy-understandable learning path through years of teaching with students from ages 3-60+ in both private and classroom settings.
 
The guitar/music learning can be divided into elementary parts. My teaching philosophy is to focus on student’s current interest(s). I will cover the fundamental techniques or theories according to their choices at the same time, deal with the problems the students might have, and finally achieve a solid musical goal with an enjoyable process. I don’t use particular books because I believe that each student is unique, and their learnings need to be tailored for their pursuit of music. But since the common concepts and techniques are similar and crucially important to every learner, I’ve developed various curriculums for each specific group of students. If you’re a 5 years old kid who’s fascinated with guitar, I will show you how to execute the basic techniques on the instrument and have fun with the tunes you like; if you’re a high school or college student who’s looking for a musical career, I will navigate you through contemporary music theories, analysis and surveys of genres to make sure that you’ll be ready for your own music writings and playing; if you’re a professional player who already knows how to play but want to enhance your playing and discover other musical genres such as jazz or fusion, I would love to help you through some trouble-shootings, to share my insights of the genre and transcriptions or analysis with you. Last but not least, if you’re a person who’s just passionate about guitar, it’s my pleasure to share with you my method of learning, how to arrange and combine different topics to make your practice more efficiently, and most importantly, how do we train ourself as an independent thinker in music to overcome the problems we might have along the way and enjoy the results of your dedication.
 
After years of private and group teaching, some of my early stage students have held their own mini recital, some of them have gone on to study at Berklee, NYU, and other prestigious music programs around the world, some of them become uprising performers, songwriters and music producers. It’s not necessary to have music as a professional career, but I always encourage all of my students to discover what motivates them the most, and then enjoy what music can bring to each of us.

【Bio】

PG Weng is a guitarist, improviser, composer, and music educator. Enlightened by blues and rock music in the young age, PG has been inspired and influenced by different genres such as jazz, latin music, classical and heavy metal since then. His musical voice as an improviser can be heard as a unique blend of these styles. PG started his professional career as a performer in New York City at 2015, at there he performed at the venues including Bona Fide, Cleopatra’s Needle, and the prestigious Merkin concert hall. Later he spent 3 years in Shanghai, China, dedicated to performance and music education. Invited by various music festivals, which includes the renowned Shanghai International Jazz Festival for 2 times, PG shows his versatility of playing either as band leader or sideman in various settings from duo to full orchestra and in many genres. He was also a regular band member of JZ club, Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, Coral bar, and RT Jazz club. With his focus on traditional swinging vocabulary, he brought the first-class live jazz to jazz lovers in Shanghai. Other than jazz and pop music, PG also thrived in the classical and studio recording’s worlds. He was featured 2 times with Shanghai Symphony Orchestra performing film scores of Alexandre Desplat under his conducting in the concert hall. He appeared on the Japanese singer Yuko Kishi’s debut album and many others. PG went back to US to pursue his master degree in music in 2019. He performed and gave lessons in person and online regularly in Boston, made a debut album “I’ll see you” as leader. After the completion of his master degree, he settled back in Taiwan. PG is now an adjunct professor of Popular Music Department of Tainan University of Tech and lecturer of many universities in Taiwan.
 
PG has also found his passion for music education since he taught at schools in different levels at Shanghai. He believes the enjoyment of music is universal, yet unique to everyone. His teaching philosophy is to make sure that each of his student can enjoy their dedications to the instrument. He’s experienced with many kinds of student’s needs. He welcomes students from all ages with all levels. PG not only teaching in private studio but also invited as guest speaker in many institutions which specialize in jazz and contemporary music to share his love and knowledge of music.
 
PG holds two bachelor’s degrees, one in Performance from Berklee College of Music and another one in Mechanical Engineering from National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan, and a Master degree in Jazz and Contemporary Music at Longy School of Music. His teachers of guitar have included Eric Hofbauer, John Wilkins, Tim Miller and Richie Hart.