San Diego–based Andrew Hull, who studied with Patterson in the late 1990s, particularly appreciated Patterson’s practice of listening closely to each student and translating what he heard into understandable words. “He has remarkable ears and the ability to convey what he is hearing,” says Hull. “His comments are geared to make you aware of the reality of what and how you are playing. This awareness is then juxtaposed against your intention, and an attempt is made to focus that intention. Once the intention becomes clear, you spend the remainder of the lesson bringing your execution to the level of your intention.”

Cross-Training
Because there was no guitar teacher where Patterson went to school, he studied with other instrumentalists, and he encourages students to think beyond the conventions of guitar technique. “A lot of my principles in phrasing, like how to use vibrato, I borrow from the violin,” he says. “And I get a lot of interpretive ideas from the piano, which, like the guitar, is a percussive instrument. Neither one can sustain notes.”
Students get plenty of ideas from top guitar and lute soloists, too. Patterson partners with local concert presenters to bring such talented musicians as the Assad Brothers and Paul O’Dette to town for performances and master classes.
Not all of Patterson’s students go on to be soloists or even conservatory professors, and he has no problem with that. In fact, he seems particularly proud of the former students who have remained in Tucson to operate instrument stores or establish small private music studios for kids. “Part of my job is to get people to shoot for the moon in terms of performing careers,” he says, “and then, if that doesn’t work out, to consider other job possibilities that keep them playing instead of getting discouraged and giving everything up. And some of these guys have really high-powered studios; their kids have a much higher level of preparation by the time they get to college than I used to see. They’re all doing something important, even if it isn’t always glamorous.”

JAMES REEL is a writer based in Tucson, Arizona. He is a contributing editor to Strings magazine and arts editor of the Tucson Weekly, and he writes regularly for Fanfare and the All Music Guide.

“I try to establish a group of students that’s cohesive and get a synergy going,” Patterson says, “Being part of this guitar program is a lot different from having a lesson once a week.”