Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Aiden Schnell. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Aiden , thanks for joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

Q1
I have played music for almost my entire life. Guitar was the first instrument, and for the most part has remained my main instrument. As a child, my primary form of music education was learning songs and eventually fiddle tunes from my music teachers. Eventually I attended Berklee College of Music where I studied more complex musical topics (mainly improvisation and music theory) which are skills I use most often in music settings.

In order to get good at what I do, I had to take a lot of time to try to understand how my brain likes to process information. A big achievement for me was learning how to map the fretboard. Often you hear about musicians drilling scale shapes over and over until they are muscle memorized, and for me, I had to really do the music math to visualize the fretboard, and that required an understanding of some basic shapes and a lot of music theory knowledge to give myself the ability to make musical choices.

Q2
I would say that the main things that help to speed along the learning process are moments of honest self reflection, and taking the time to check your ego. There were times in my life where I was extremely focused on the idea of getting an endorsement, and at the time, I hadn’t really developed my musicianship to the point where that was the right thing to be having as a focus. Getting out of that mindset allowed me to get back to the practice room in a more focused way, where I was only focused on development and finding freedom on the instrument. So I guess I would say that in my experience, learning to care more about the learning process, and how it aids your development as a person is the best way to spread up the learning process.

Q3
I think the main skills needed to get good at playing music is to learn how to interrupt defeatist thoughts, and try to reframe them as exciting new opportunities to learn and grow. Also, take time to celebrate your learning milestones, you work hard for them, and you should feel good about them.

Q4
I think the skill that has been the most essential for my development has been my ability to make complicated things simpler. Sometimes this takes time because you’re having to dissect a brand new concept, but the effort is worth it.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

after I had been playing guitar for about 6 years, I started playing folk/bluegrass music in middle school. My parents would pull me out of school early every Thursday to attend coffee house jams with local musicians, and every Sunday I would attend a jam at my music teachers house. I was bit by the jamming bug very quickly, and it wasn’t long before it became the only thing I did.

As I got more serious about performing, I started taking voice lessons and playing shows with my dad who is also a great musician, and I continued to develop my technical skills on guitar, banjo, and mandolin. The better I got, the more opportunity I got, and the bigger my community became.

At some point I felt like I had hit a plateau, and so I starting studying with a guitarist by the name of Hayes Griffin who lived about an hour and a half away from me, and he introduced me to a whole new world of musical possibilities.
With his help, I was able to attend Berklee College of Music, where I continued to hone my craft.

In my last year of college I was able to get a couple of teaching jobs that really started to pay off right after I graduated, and now I spend a lot of my time in the Boston area teaching guitar as the Guitar Department Chair at Winchester Community Music School, teaching at Club Passim, and teaching students online. I am also still taking lessons, as I am a firm believer in the life long learner mentality, so I currently study jazz, space-grass, and jazz composition with Jason Keiser.

Outside of that, I recently released a Duo EP with my former mentor Hayes Griffin, and I am working on a solo album at the moment. I also recently worked with Hayes as part of his “artist and residence” team at IBMA. Lastly I recently got sponsored by Skeddy Picks.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me, the most rewarding part of being an artist is that I get to play with so many great people. Everything that is good in my life can be easily tracked back to my family and music.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I had known more about all of the programs that exist to help young bluegrass musicians meet one another and get performance opportunities. The greater bluegrass community wants you to succeed, but they need to know who you are.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.aidenschnell.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aidenschnell?igsh=MTR4ZzZ6M2U3aWZocQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6TmSnM7B9YPqSOhgPxD2ch?si=ZOHXnGhKTvyavFmqYIcY1Q