Lauren Bateman (speaker) recounts her transition from a science career (degree in archaeology and biology; cancer-research work at AstraZeneca) to becoming a full-time music teacher and YouTuber. She explains how a performance cruise (named Keamo) convinced her to pursue music, how she began teaching voice then added guitar after realizing she could teach beginners (example: teaching Ode to Joy), and how her private studio grew into hiring other teachers and opening schools. She launched her YouTube channel in 2017 (early uploads include "Horse with No Name") and emphasizes a student-centered teaching philosophy focused on making guitar fun and accessible.
Questions this video answers
Boston University
Archaeology and biology
AstraZeneca
Keamo
2017
Chapters
Many of my students are astonished to find out after taking guitar lessons with me that I don't have a degree in music and that I didn't go to school to learn how to teach music. Actually, my degree is in science. So how did I go from working in a lab to teaching guitar?
So I tell you guys a funny story that happened in my personal teaching studio. I have been working with a client for, gee, I would say at least two or three years at this point. And I had taught him how to do lots of things on the guitar. Have fun. And one day, we were just talking, and I don't know how it came up. I think he went to Boston University, and that's actually where I went to school. I graduated from Boston University. We started talking. He's like, oh, I just thought you went to Berkeley because I'm here in Boston. Like, you're a musician. You should go to Berkeley, right? So I said, yeah, well, no, I went to Boston University. And he said, wow, so you went to Boston University for music? And I said, no. I said, I actually. I said, my degree's in archeology and biology. And he's like, well, I. How the hell are you teaching guitar? And it just goes to show you, for a lot of my students, it never crossed their mind that I didn't go to school for music. And I always tell students, you know, the biggest thing that you and I have in common is that we just love this instrument and we have a desire to learn how to play, and neither of us needs to go to music school or needs to get a degree in music to have fun with this instrument. But students ask me all the time, like, lauren, what was that evolution? Like, how did you go from, you know, working in a science lab? I worked in cancer research. Search for a company called AstraZeneca. Some of you guys might know where they are. They're out in the UK and they're here in Massachusetts as well. And I guess the short story is, you know, I was working in the lab, and I. I loved where I worked. I mean, the people I worked for were great. The company I worked for was absolutely amazing. But I always had this strong calling for music, all right? And I was singing and performing, and I was taking voice lessons. At this point, I had taken some guitar lessons, and I said, you know what? I'm gonna go on this cr. The cruise was called Keamo, and I got to meet a lot of really cool musicians. I actually got to play blackjack with Brandi Carlisle. I got to see the Indigo Girls, you know, Lyle Lovett and Patty Griffin and John Prine, you know, So I got to see all these great musicians, and I brought my guitar along with me. And it wasn't this crafter. I didn't have the crafter at the time. I had a purple Ibanez that actually Brandi Carlisle signed for me, and I just brought that along, and I was performing on this boat, and I had so much fun. I was just like, I need to figure out how to make this my life. And you guys might be shocked because when I quit my job to do music full time, I didn't even start by teaching guitar because I didn't even feel comfortable teaching guitar. I actually started out by teaching voice because I had taken years of voice lessons. So I felt more confident in my ability to teach voice versus guitar. Now all of that changed my. When I decided, you know, I'm broke, I gotta make money, and I need more students. Well, if I teach voice and guitar, you know, maybe I can make some more money out of my private teaching studio. Because that's mainly how I was making my income at the time after I quit my job. So I brought a spare guitar into the living room where my girlfriend at the time, who's now my wife, was sitting, and I said, listen, can you just humor me for one minute? And I gave her a guitar and I gave her a printout for a song. It was called Ode to Joy. Okay, Ode to Joy. Very, very simple song. And I said, can you just play this? I'm going to show you how to play this really quickly and just humor me. So I started showing her how to play, like, the first couple of notes of oh to Joy. She pressed the guitar. I think she played like, two or three notes. I ripped the guitar out of her hand, and I ran next door and I added guitar lessons to my website because I realized something. I realized, you know, maybe I didn't take a lot of guitar lessons. Maybe I'm not an Eddie Van Halen. Maybe I'm not the best guitar teacher in world or Sorry, I am a good guitar. If you think I'm a good guitar teacher, put that in the gift. Let me know in the comments. But I might not be the best guitar player in the world, but I knew I could help people. I knew that I had enough skills to help someone that was an absolute beginner. And that's when the light bulb went off and I started teaching students. And my studio started really growing because of my guitar. I think the reason why that happened was people Felt comfortable with me. They didn't know I didn't have a degree in music, but I was able to make the guitar make sense for them. But also that, you know, a lot of. And you'll see this here on YouTube, too. There's a lot of teachers, and they go and they start shredding and the lessons about them and what they can do on the instrument and how good they are as a guitar player versus helping you learn to have fun with your instrument. All right, and if I've helped you have fun on this instrument, leave me a comment below. I really want to hear from you guys because, you know, I do answer the comments. I do read them. So if you get a response on this video, it's definitely going to be for me. And I would love to hear from you guys if I have helped you in any way, shape, or form with this instrument. Just leave me a little comment below. So, to make a long story short, I actually was really good at teaching the guitar. And my popularity grew so much that I had to hire another teacher. And then I opened up some music schools. And then eventually, you know, because I was on the management side, I wasn't teaching as much. And I really wanted to help people because just love this instrument so much, and I think you guys do, too. And on 2017, I uploaded my first video. I said, I don't know what's going to happen with this, but hey, let's just. Let's just like with teaching, let's just see what happens. And I uploaded one of my first videos was Horse with no Name. And for those of you in my guitar course, you know, that's one of the first songs that I teach you guys because it's nice and easy and simple and makes you feel good about yourself. And that's what I do as a teacher. I just try to make you guys feel as good about yourselves as possible and give you guys the confidence that this is doable and we can master this instrument at your level in your own unique way. And I think that's why I've had such success here on YouTube is because I want you guys to understand that it's not about what I can do on this instrument. It's not about the things I've done with guitar. It's about what I can help you guys do with your guitar, what can we accomplish with this instrument? And I want to help you guys get there. I want to help you guys have so much fun with this instrument. So thank you so much for supporting my YouTube channel. I've had so much fun getting to know some of you guys in the comments below. I hope to see you guys in another lesson real soon.
