Nicholas Caine Rausch

Guitar

Nicholas Caine Rausch specializes in jazz guitar for intermediate to advanced players. He believes that most anyone can be a great player with dedication and the right teacher for them. “I like to build upon students existing strengths while also uncovering gaps in their knowledge or technical difficulties that may already exist. I enjoy helping students remove those barriers.”

He has been playing the guitar for over 30 years and teaching since 2003. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance with a concentration in Jazz Studies from the University of Southern Maine, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude.

Nick is a member of the Music Teachers National Association and active in numerous honor societies. He teaches and performs primarily in the Seattle, WA area.

Specialties:  Jazz guitar, college prep, fretboard awareness, music theory, ear training

Levels: Intermediate through advanced

Ages:  12 years and up, adults, retired

Rates:  $55 for 30 min, $65 for 45 min, $75 for one hour

Availability: Wednesday evenings

Online/In-Person: In-person only

When were you first introduced to music and what got you “hooked”?

When I was in my early teens, my buddy came over to my house and showed me a couple of simple chords. I remember being at his house a week or two later and I was “butchering” an open position C chord. He ran into the room, yanked the guitar out of my hands and said, “You sound like a dying cow!” It was on!

What is one of your most memorable experiences as a performer?

My quintet squeezed onto a whaler boat to play a private gig on a Maine island. The bay waters were choppy and we had to go fast. Our bass player was hanging halfway out of the boat holding onto his upright bass and a pole for dear life. His facial expression was one of sheer terror. I still laugh when I think about it.

Do you have any good practice tips for guitar players, or musicians in general?

Instead of shying away from aspects of your playing that make you feel inadequate as a musician…embrace them…find out how and why and make a plan to eliminate that aspect. I call it “seek and destroy.”

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