We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Adam Schlenker a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Adam , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
The summer of turned 8 years old I saw a sign in the window of a music store for guitar lessons. This prompted me to ask my mom for lessons which she did set up. I can recall that first lesson as clearly as if it were yesterday. I remember the layout of the shop, the route through the store to the studio and I remembering coming home after the lesson, sitting on my back porch to practice and thinking, “this is what I do, I play the guitar”. That was 40 years ago and my relationship with the guitar has stayed strong everyday since that day.
Throughout the years of learning and teaching I have come to realize that I learn differently than the way the common method books promote. I am a visual learner and rely on diagrams to map out the guitars fretboard which allows me to “see the music”. It took me years to fully develop this method, creating fragmented fretboard diagrams one discovery at a time to finally create a complete image of the guitar. My teaching is based on this “mapping” approach to the guitar and the music which allows students to learn to improvise and learn by ear much more quickly than I did. I would not trade my experience for anything because I know it’s this gradual discovery that allows me to see things so clearly but I am happy that I can help to speed up others progress through this method.
We live in a world where information and answers are just a quick internet search away. This is amazing in many ways but can actually have a negative impact on a musicians progress as well. I have seen trends where players search up a tab/chart for a song and start in trying to learn it before they really know what the piece sounds like. I constantly remind players that unless you can hum the melody and play basic chord changes for a song, you aren’t ready to work on an arrangement of the song. Unless you have internalized the music you run the risk of just memorizing a chart and not really learning the song which means you lock yourself out of improvising, re-arranging and simply having a lot of fun with the music and the guitar. I stress building your skills and your songs in layers: core melody, basic chord changes, exploring a variety of ways to play it on the fretboard and really developing a full understanding of the song. Then you can develop the music for yourself. Anytime I hear someone say they are bored with a tune, I remind them that it’s not the tunes fault, it’s their fault for not exploring and expanding how they play it.
For a variety of reasons, most of my journey has been what I think of as self taught. I have had great teachers and mentors but because of the way I learn, I have had to self guide my journey and steer it towards solutions for my questions. This could be considered an obstacle but I honestly see it as a strength. I remind everyone I work with that although I am here to help guide their journey, it’s ultimately their responsibility. If you take ownership of the experience, you will thrive on the lifelong journey with your instrument.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My journey as a guitar player started at a pretty young age. I was eight years old when I started playing and was working in bands with adults by the age fifteen. I have known all along that I was in it for the long haul with the guitar and music but I have also explored a few other areas which lead to some important developments professionally. During my teen years I began recording music and developed a basic multitrack studio in my parents basement. I found that, not only did I really enjoy recording music, but I also could see that it really helped me improve as a player, writer and arranger. This interest in recording played a major part in my development and was a focus during my college years. This led to an internship and later a job, at the production company where I recorded/edited/mixed audio for video/film projects and worked in the recording studio. Throughout my 20’s I found a balance between touring playing music, recording music for regional bands, working on video/film projects and teaching private lessons. I found all of this interesting and worthwhile but didn’t realize at the time where it would lead and how these experiences would later merge to create my core business, 5th Fret Productions.
In 2009 I came home from a long day of teaching and expressed to my wife that I was exhausted from telling people the same things over and over again. Even though my students have always been at different levels, we all need to know the same things and work on the same skills. I jokingly said “I wish I had buttons I could push that would play prerecorded answers to their questions” She replied, “well you are an audio engineer and you have worked on video for years, why don’t your just record your lessons?” Brilliant!!!!! Within days I had set up a make shift studio at my house and shot a series of lessons. It was the early days of YouTube so I uploaded the series just to see what happened and to get feedback. Before I knew it my videos were getting thousands of views and the feedback was great so I kept going. I began developing sets of free lessons for YouTube and lesson packs for purchase that included video lessons as well as written materials. 5thfretproductions.com was officially up and running.
As my teaching materials gained popularity and my name recognition grew, I found myself being invited to teach at camps, play more high profile shows and sales of my music increased. I ultimately came to realize that I was developing a global community around my teaching and my music. I have worked with aspiring players all around the world at this point and have been giving wonderful opportunities to travel and meet amazing people.
Along with the online community I also continued to develop a regional community as well through my American Roots Music Ensemble Series which offered string band classes to aspiring players of all ages. This program allowed players to take their playing to the next level through structured rehearsals with a band. This program ran for seven years and is one of the things I am most proud of. The positive impact it had on aspiring musicians was pretty remarkable and I only put it on pause due to the next opportunity that would come my way.
In the fall of 2017 I was asked to take on the guitar students and teach ensemble classes at Denison University which offered a Music Major in Bluegrass music. I jumped at the chance to teach roots music and a college level and by fall of 2018, I was offered a full time position at the university and asked to take over as Coordinator of the major. Building on my belief that Bluegrass music represents the merging of a variety of musical influences, I developed a relaunch of the program in 2020 as an American Roots Music Major. This approach strengthens our programs ability to address the bigger picture and teach about the music and people who developed roots music in the US which led to the creation of Bluegrass, Commercial Country Music, Blues etc…I see roots music as a fabric that is woven together by many groups of people and many styles of music.
These days I balance my time between Denison, 5th Fret Productions, playing music with Appalachian Swing, The Spikedrivers, The Adam Schlenker & Hayes Griffin Duo and teaching at music camps and workshops. I enjoy this variety and find that my involvement in each area serves to strengthen the others.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
I have been performing live for thirty-three years now and love playing shows for those who are inspired to listen. The feeling you get when you bond with an audience is indescribable. You feed off their energy and they off yours. It’s a remarkable experience which is why we are willing to travel mile after mile in search of the experience over and and over again but I learned something about myself during the “stay at home” era of 2020-21 that sort of reset how I looked at things. When when found ourselves at home with all gigs cancelled and no idea wha the future would bring, I found myself at home, in my home studio, surrounded by my guitars. I played a lot, I wrote a lot and I recorded a lot….I came to realize that I simply love to play the guitar and make music regardless of the situation. Whether there’s an audience or not, I just love to play. I find clarity in my teaching from this thought as well as in my own creations. The reward of playing music starts with ones self. The reward is internal first and then transfers to the community second. I find this thought to recharge my long term batteries.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
My uncle used to say, “if it seems easy or simple, it probably means you don’t know how it works”. This statement has resonated with me for a variety of reasons over the years. When someone assumes that I don’t have a “real job” if I tell them I am musician, I know that means they don’t understand what it means to be a working musician. To me it means that I am self employed, self motivated and driven by my desire to create something that I believe to be important. I am creating a product that others consume. I my case its music and teaching materials but it could be anything. Is my journey completely different than the journey of those working in the tech industry or in finance? You develop your skills, first the skills that everyone needs in that industry and then your develop the skills that make you unique as an individual. You do what it takes to make you stand out from the pack and be noticed. I am an entrepreneur, a businessman, a mentor, a teacher, a student, an artist, a father, a husband….I strive to make the most of my time, impact people in a positive way and earn a living doing something I value. Creative or not, I believe that most folks are looking to do similar things.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.5thfretproductions.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adamschlenker/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/5thfretproductions
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@adamschlenker
