Faculty Spotlight: Tom Hynes, Commercial Music

Name: Tom Hynes

Education:

BM Studio Guitar Performance, USC

MA Composition, Cal State Los Angeles

Tell us a bit about your career history.

In 1996 I went on a State Department Tour with James Linahon (Fullerton College), where we toured in the Middle East (Syria, Jordan) and North Africa. I also had my music featured in films for the Smithsonian Institute, and was the last guitarist to ever play the All-America College Show in 1979. I taught at OCSA, Citrus, and CalState LA at various times. I’m a long-time member of Kim Richmond Concert Jazz Orchestra, I’ll be performing with them in the near future. I’m also the Chair of the Idyllwild Arts Summer Camp, a summer program for jazz students. I’ve taught there for twenty-nine years.

What have you learned from teaching college students?

A lot. The parameters have changed, I’m having to train students to be far more entrepreneurial than I was as a college student. Students are dealing with an entirely different reality. Ownership of music is done on the business side of things. I’m concerned about music saturating every aspect of who they are. Are students building a repository of aural information like they used to? I wonder what will happen to students who no longer listen to music in volumes like people used to. I don’t hear students talk about individual experiences that inspire them.

Describe a time where you felt you had found your calling in your field of study.

I grew up in a musical town, Eugene, Oregon. My dad was a professor at the University of Oregon, so music was always a part of my childhood. When I was sixteen I went to a guitar master class in Eugene by Howard Roberts, an amazing session guitar player and music educator. He was a mind-blowingly good teacher. He could teach concepts in an amazingly understandable way. He could say, “Here is what you need.” I came away from that experience knowing what I needed to do. The type of teaching we got gave me a model to use in my own teaching. That was a life-changing experience. I still use his approach in teaching today.

What’s your advice to someone pursuing a career in the field you teach?

Learn how to be a good musician first. There is a movement today to abandon traditional methods of instruction. However, there is a common denominator between all really good players and producers: they were great musicians first. Being a player in a band or choir is a huge aspect of musicianship. Learn to do that first.

What are your ultimate goals when it comes to teaching the next generation?

I think of a quote by C.S. Lewis: “The world does not need more Christian literature. What it needs is more Christians writing good literature.” Plug music in instead of literature and that’s what I’m going for as a professor. We have to prepare students who are excellent at what they do, to make good music, but more importantly spread the strength of their faith. Excellence isn’t a goal in and of itself.

What has been your proudest moment of your career so far?

I feel that way every time I see a student give a senior recital. Those are particularly special moments given that a senior recital is not an easy thing to do.

Share a piece of wisdom with us.

In my years of teaching I’ve observed a common denominator in all great teachers: they don’t make it about themselves. The best teachers make their instruction about the material and the students, not based on a “cult of personality.” Christian ethics play a role here. More teachers need to recognize that they’re the last part of the equation.

Date: February 24, 2020