Dakoda L. Ta.

My name is Dakoda. I have played guitar for six years. I began playing drums when I was ten. My early influences where classic rock bands such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Who, and many others. I also draw much influence from 90's era music like Incubus, Dave Matthews Band, Foo Fighters, and Pearl Jam.

In 2010 I graduated from Huntsville High School and enrolled in the University of Arkansas. I decided to pursue a music degree after my first semester. Up until this point I had been completely self-taught. To begin taking lessons with a professor I had to first learn the basics of jazz (which was like a foreign language to me at the time. In the fall semester I took lessons at a local music store and I absorbed all I need to know to get me started at the university.

I began taking lessons with Dr. James Greeson (head of Music Theory and Guitar Department). Jazz guitar since then has opened up my playing abilities and increased my fret board knowledge ten fold. It also introduced me to many new genres of music such as Funk, Soul, Bossa Nova, Fusion, and one of my personal favorites Modal Jazz.

During my sophomore year I formed the Music Departments first Funk/Fusion ensemble that consisted of Saxophones, Trumpet, Guitars, Bass, and Drums. I am an avid listener of many different styles of music and I love hearing new styles and songs. My favorite(and what I think is most beneficial) form of learning music is the lost art of transcribing. I feel that learning by ear is the greatest tool at an musicians disposal. When a person transcribes music regularly a relationship between sound and hand position develop faster and more musically than when only shown these relationships between sounds as scales and arpeggios.

Everyday I transcribing aggressively I feel and know I have gotten better that day. Of course I always teach students the basics first and the simple beginning techniques. After that I let them decided the route that they would like to choose but I always encourage transcribing as early as possible. That I my take on teaching and learning music.