Roger Mead Biography

I have played stringed instruments for 57 years and taught guitar privately for 33 years. First at D-Rocks Music Store and Christopher Music in Fremont Nebraska then teaching 14 years at Russo’s Music in Omaha and I have been currently teaching at Dietze Music Store and at my home studio since 2013.

I began trying to learn guitar when I was twelve years old in 1966 but became frustrated trying to play the F chord, so I gave up until my mother found a lady teaching ukulele who was both fun and encouraging. She taught me to play songs from the twenties and thirties and by learning different song styles she turned them into lessons that made me want to learn more. When I went back and tried guitar couple of years later, all of the things that she taught me on the ukulele, helped make learning to play guitar easier.

I kept playing, learning by ear, playing with other guitar players, and jamming with friends at picking parties. I eventually started playing in local bands from 1978 through the early 90’s. In order to get a band out of the basement you needed to have about 50-60 songs memorized which meant a lot of rehearsal and playing time. The more I played the better I got although I was and still am a long way from being a virtuoso I continue to learn and grow every day and work towards that end.

I continued learning guitar on my own by listening to my favorite music and trying to learn the songs that inspired me to want to play. I had a lot of piano music for songs I wanted to learn but all they gave is the chords for the guitar part and you were left trying to figure it out by ear. When tablature became more available it was an easier way for me to learn at the time because I didn’t know how to read notes on guitar. I took a theory class at UNL in 1978 which taught me a broader view of music, but it would be years before I began to read on guitar and really started putting everything together.

I am currently planning and recording original music which I want to produce and release later in 2024. The music I have written is highly eclectic with Folk, Rock, Jazz, Classical, Reggie and Country music. I enjoy blending different styles that I love listening to. One thing of the things I love about teaching is the great variety of music my students bring in to learn that exposes me to music outside of what I normally listen to which influences what I listen to, write, and play.

It wasn’t until I after began to teach guitar on the side that I began to figure out how to read on guitar using basic method books along with my students. In 2008 I finally went back to college and studied guitar with Jeff Scheffler and graduated Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree with a primary concentration in music and secondary’s in Video and Audio in 2011 from UNO. The things I learned there have changed the way I think when I write songs or try and learn songs by notes or ear.

If I could have done one thing differently when I started playing. I would have had a good instructor from the start. I see my students learning and understanding music better and faster than I did. It would have been nice to have an instructor explain to me why some things are difficult and how to overcome the difficulties and acquire the discipline that learning an instrument requires.