Within the hills of Mount Washington sits the studio of local musician and guitar instructor Nils Bryant. Bryant said he has called LA home for the past 17 years since moving from Amsterdam, where he first developed his love for guitar.
Bryant said he was initially attracted to the LA music scene because of the endless opportunities it presented to connect with other musicians and promote his work as an artist. Bryant said while many aspiring artists are pulled in by LA’s promises of fame and grandeur, he was more intrigued by the close-knit community of smaller artists that exists in the city.
“I think a lot of the beauty in music and the real way of connecting is actually on a much smaller, much more local level, and I really quite appreciate LA for that,” Bryant said.
Bryant said he was able to develop his teaching style early on when he was offered his first job immediately after graduating high school.
“I started teaching in high school back home because people realized I could play guitar,” Bryant said, “I was lucky, I went [to] a high school where music was very much a big part of school and extracurriculars […] shortly after high school, the teacher I was with at the time was like, ‘I need a break, you can have my job,” Bryant said.
Bryant said he was only 19 years old at the time and had planned on continuing his studies at a music conservatory. Instead, he took advantage of the opportunity to teach and began his career as an instructor.
“I [taught at] some music schools, but I’ve always been doing private [lessons],” Bryant said. “My first students were just [from] Craigslist and some word of mouth, and that just grew.”
According to Bryant, he offers guitar lessons at his studio to musicians of all levels but finds that his clientele consists mostly of adults searching for a way to get back into playing.
Jules Desmond said he currently takes guitar lessons with Bryant. Desmond said that Bryant possesses unlimited knowledge of every aspect of music, be it theory, production or performance.
“I like him because I was looking for someone who could not only teach guitar technically, but I wanted to learn more about theory as well,” Desmond said.
Desmond said that while taking lessons he has been able to explore numerous genres of music, such as blues, rock and country. Desmond said he admires Bryant’s unstructured approach when teaching and his ability to meet students where they are.
Irene Potter said via text that she is a current guitar student of Bryant’s. Potter said studying with Bryant has allowed her to build her confidence as a guitarist, as he is a very encouraging teacher.
“What I like about his teaching style is that he’s very patient and student-centered,” Potter said via text. “He tailors his teaching to each student’s goals, timelines, abilities and learning styles.”
Bryant said he approaches teaching with a sense of humility and an open mind, eager to learn from his students as much as they learn from him. He said he uses his music as a form of communication that can build and develop bonds between him and those that he works with.
“[Music] is ultimately a language. It’s a way of connecting, and it doesn’t have to be a very specific thing because that only limits you,” Bryant said. “If you’re a bit more open minded and say yes to things, that’s generally quite healthy.”
According to Bryant, because music is such an uncertain field, being a jack of all trades has been his key to finding success. Bryant said he aims to share that versatility with his students.
“It is fairly well known that most musicians are not just musicians, they also do everything else around it,” Bryant said.
According to Bryant, a musician is most successful when they are well-organized and efficient in areas aside from creating music. Additionally, he said it is most important for them to love the music that they are creating, whether they are pursuing a professional career in music or not.
“Obviously all musicians, ideally what they would do all day long is the music part,” Bryant said, “But for a lot of us that is not necessarily reality.”
Desmond said he has found a sense of peace within the music he creates, even though he does not intend to pursue guitar professionally.
“I’ve always been around music, so it’s that sense of home and peace for me,” Desmond said. “It’s a very personal thing and it allows me to switch off.”
Bryant said he has helped his students find the joy in the process of making music and created an environment in which they want to push themselves out of their comfort zones to hone their skills.
“The more you learn, the more you know that you don’t really know anything. There’s all of these rabbit holes that you keep falling into or things you rediscover,” Bryant said. “It’s a lifelong journey, and it’s not meant to be anything else.”
Contact Amalia Rimmon at rimmon@oxy.edu.
