Photo of Jerry Michelsen in New York City standing in front of the neon sign at the famous jazz club Birdland

teaching experience

In 1973, I taught piano lessons for the first time. I was a student at The Evergreen State College in
Olympia, Washington. Some of my classmates, who were classically trained pianists, wanted to learn to play blues, jazz, and rock n roll. Later, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, all the pianists who were working in tourism were, as I was, in the CTM union. It was the musician's branch of the
ConfederaciĆ³n de Trabajadores Mexicanos. We were all acquainted and saw each other at meetings regularly. In Spanish I taught several Mexican pianists how to field requests from Americans. They were songs like Misty, or
As Time Goes By from the movie Casa Blanca, or
Boogie Woogie piano. I had a few piano students again in
San Juan, Puerto Rico. When working at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, I teamed up with a music store and enjoyed teaching 25 students of all ages. In 1996 I moved to Encinitas, California and turned my full attention to developing methods for and teaching students of piano, harmonica, and music theory. For sixteen years it's been my pleasure to teach full time at AMX,
American Music Exchange. I also continue to perform on piano, harmonica, and voice, with a contrabassist and drummer in the Jerry Michelsen Trio.