For more than 45 years, I've been teaching music in Western Massachusetts. Violin, fiddle, mandolin, guitar, classical music, bluegrass, Irish traditional music, klezmer, and just about anything else that could be played on a stringed instrument have all found their way into my teaching studio at one time or another. Now, after a lifetime of lessons, rehearsals, performances, and musical adventures, I've decided to retire from full-time teaching.
It's not quite the retirement I had imagined.
This past July, I spent two weeks in the hospital following a serious illness. I'm still recovering, and the experience has changed the way I think about my time, my energy, and what I want to do with the years ahead. I've always been someone who has more projects going than any reasonable person should attempt, and slowing down has never come particularly naturally to me. But sometimes life makes the decision for you.
For those who know me through Sweet Music Studio, which I've operated since 1985, this means a significant change. I'm now teaching just one day a week, primarily working with students I've known for some time. I'm not actively accepting new students, and I no longer maintain the regular schedule of private lessons and group classes that once occupied so much of my week.
That doesn't mean I've lost my enthusiasm for teaching. Quite the opposite. One of the great rewards of spending decades as a music teacher is watching people discover abilities they didn't know they had. I've worked with children picking up their first instruments, adults returning to music after decades away, and people who were convinced they had no musical talent until someone put an instrument in their hands and showed them otherwise.
Some of my favorite teaching memories have very little to do with technical accomplishments. They're about the moment a student stops worrying about the notes and starts making music. Or the first time a group of adults manages to play a tune together without stopping, and everyone looks around the room with that wonderful expression of surprise and delight.
Those are the things I'll miss most about teaching regularly.
Over the years, music has taken me to some extraordinary places. I've played bluegrass fiddle in an Irish pub in Kilfenora, performed klezmer in front of the Great Pyramids in Egypt, exchanged melodies with a Chinese violinist in an instrument factory in Hebei Province, and performed Bach and Mozart with the South Hadley Mandolin Orchestra at the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum in Hadley.
I've also spent countless hours making music right here in the Pioneer Valley, where some of the most rewarding musical experiences happen in living rooms, rehearsal spaces, community gatherings, and informal sessions rather than on concert stages.
The thing that connects all those experiences isn't the instrument or the musical style. It's the people. Music has an extraordinary ability to bring together individuals who might otherwise have very little in common.
And that's something I don't intend to retire from.
These days, I'm devoting more of my time to composing, recording, and collaborating with other musicians through my Verve Music project. I'm exploring everything from traditional fiddle music and bluegrass to electronic music, synthesizers, and compositions inspired by science, history, and the natural world. I'm also spending more time at home in Granby, tending our gardens and orchard with my wife Emily, and enjoying the quieter rhythms of life in Western Massachusetts.
I'm discovering that retirement from teaching doesn't necessarily mean having less to do. It simply means having more freedom to decide what to do next.
For anyone who is particularly interested in studying with me, I'm leaving the door open just a crack. If you're serious about lessons, you can text me at (413) 213-5767 with your name, the instrument you'd like to study, your musical background, and what you're hoping to accomplish. I'll consider your inquiry and see whether there's any possibility of fitting you into my limited schedule. But please understand that I'm really not taking on new students at this point.
I'll continue writing about music, musical history, instruments, teaching, and the occasional unexpected adventure at Sweet Music Studio. You can also listen to my original compositions and recordings at Verve Music on Bandcamp, where the music is available for free.
To the students, families, musicians, and friends throughout Granby and the Pioneer Valley who have been part of my musical life over the years, thank you. Teaching has been far more than a profession. It's been an ongoing education, a source of lasting friendships, and one of the most rewarding parts of my life.
I may be putting away the lesson schedule, but the fiddle is staying out of its case.
Adam Sweet
Granby, Massachusetts
Founder, Sweet Music Studio
Musician, Composer & Retired Music Teacher
