We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alex Mak a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Alex thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I was fortunate to grow up exposed to a lot of great guitar-driven music. AC/DC, The Stones, Van Halen, Zeppelin, and Hendrix were all mainstays. My dad and I would listen to the music or watch live DVDs for fun. Hearing and seeing great players young showed me what to shoot for, and what was possible. I think growing up with that music made learning feel a lot more familiar.

I started taking piano and guitar lessons young which really helped develop my ear, allowing for a lot of self teaching as well. I was playing with a lot of older kids, hipping me to new music, and learning to play in a group. I wanted to learn everything there was, and tried to take different opportunities to play different instruments and styles.

I might have been able to learn things faster, but I don’t know if that’s better. The more time you spend with something, the more of a relationship you develop with it. I think you hear the hard-fought victories in someone’s playing. I like the drama of it.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m a guitarist and educator that also does some composition, production, and music prep.

Currently, I’m the guitar chair and programmer for the Off-Broadway musical Titanique. The show’s a parody of the movie, but with a decidedly Céline Dion twist. It’s a lot of fun! We play 8 shows weekly at the Daryl Roth Theatre in New York City, and last November, we performed on Late Night with Seth Meyers. I also play guitar for recording sessions, and live as a side-person. Now that I’m settling into a groove, I’m hoping to gig some of my original music in the city!

I’ve been teaching guitar, bass, and music technology for over 6 years, and have conducted clinics at Berklee College of Music. My private teaching is tailored to students so they can accomplish their musical goals, and explore their creativity.

I’ve been fortunate to work in some really diverse music environments, which have given me a perspective many people might not have if they’re focused in one area. I bring this holistic perspective into everything I do.

Whether it’s a symphony orchestra, theatre pit, rock band, film scoring session, or Coptic choir, I always find something to learn that can be transferred to other areas. Those connections created my musical style and teaching approach.

When I teach, I want my students to have the same “breakthrough moments” I’ve had from my experiences. I encourage learning through doing, and thinking critically about your approach. It’s about bridging the gap between self-teaching and lessons, so that one feeds off the other.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

There are so many free resources to learn about anything and everything. I’ve gotten so much through binging Wikipedia or Youtube.

At the same time though, I think there’s a sense of option paralysis that goes into learning. There’s more free instruction available now than one could ever need, it’s incredible! Guitar used to be a dark art people slowly learned by ear, a method book if they were lucky, or from someone who knew a little more than them.

Coming up, it would have been helpful to know what to focus on, and what was less necessary. I’ve come to love old school books and PDFs again because of their closed nature. If you want to learn more, you reread them instead of falling down a rabbit hole. It can be really helpful to apply the same approach to videos, and not get sucked in by the algorithm.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I find the act of creativity itself incredibly self-fulfilling. For me, composition is a dialogue with yourself, letting you hear what you feel in this open medium. It’s vulnerable, often ephemeral, and precarious.

With original music, I get to hear the sound in my head I wish I heard. There’s a feeling of searching for something you can’t quite reach, and a dance to catch it. When things are on, it’s invigorating, affirming, and the greatest rush.

The impact you can have on others just amplifies those feelings. So many great works take on a life of their own. People develop personal relationships with art completely separate from the creators themselves. What was once someone’s singular idea is shattered into as many pieces as there are listeners.

In a performance, you can be an audience’s court jester. In a recording, you can become the soundtrack to someone’s movie.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://alexkmak.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexkmak/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC9HpNrWDvs0KaozwaU0O0w

Image Credits
Owen Nathanael Carissa Johnson