"In fall of 1988, while attending UW-Milwaukee not really knowing what I wanted to be when I grew up, I began working at a small grocery store in Menomonee Falls, WI, where I met this long-haired guy who played guitar. His name was Steve Peplin. It wasn't long before break-room jam sessions commenced, and Steve told me about the guitar program at MATC and this amazing instructor named Jack Grassel. Steve invited me down to campus to hang out for a day, check out the program, and meet Jack. I enrolled the following September."
"In my two years at MATC, I was fortunate not only to get instruction from such wonderful teachers as Jack, Tom McGirr, and Gene Morrissette but also to be surrounded by highly devoted and incredibly talented classmates like Steve, Mike Butzen, Jeff Schroedl, Troy Nelson, and Chris Kringel, among others, who've all gone on to stellar careers in music. In fact, it was that relationship with Jeff Schroedl that later brought me into the Hal Leonard Corporation extended family, first as a freelance music and educational editor, and later as an editor at Guitar One magazine."
"Shortly after that, I moved to New York City, where I later served as editor-in-chief of Guitar One and Guitar Edge magazines. During my tenure with those publications, I interviewed and conducted lessons with such legendary guitarists as Yngwie Malmsteen, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, Angus Young, Alex Lifeson, Mark Tremonti, John Petrucci, Paul Gilbert, Frank Gambale, Zakk Wylde, John 5, Mike Stern, George Lynch, Phil Collen, Reb Beach, Joe Bonamassa, Steve Lukather, Adrian Legg, Neal Schon, and the great Les Paul."
"Additionally, I've written for several other music publications, authored or co-authored over 20 instructional books for Hal Leonard and Cherry Lane, been a contributing author to "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Guitar Heroes" and "101 Great Playlists," produced and scripted numerous instructional guitar DVDs and online video lessons for Hal Leonard, and edited countless guitar-related books. Currently, I manage GuitarInstructor.com, which offers fully licensed and authorized guitar tab, video lessons, and play-along jam tracks."
"Thanks to the MATC music program and the relationships forged while I was there, I get to play the guitar, write about the guitar, and market the guitar every day—and get paid for it. Not a bad gig, if you ask me. Good luck with your studies!"
Michael Mueller
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