Tyler is a graduate of the University of Guelph Music Program where his area of concentration was Jazz guitar. He is also an accomplished piper, having started learning the bagpipes at age 5.
In September of 2013 Tyler took over as Pipe Major of the Guelph Pipe Band and now instructs and leads the band in competitions and performances throughout the year. Many of Tyler’s JamSchool piping students are also members of the Guelph Pipe Band. Tyler was a member of the 48th Highlanders of Canada from 2008-2015 and has performed with them throughout North America and in Scotland.
Tyler is an active competitive solo piper and placed first overall at the top level of amateur piping in Ontario in 2014 and 2015. This earned him invitations to two of the top amateur piping competitions in North America, the Nicol Brown Invitational in Albany NY, and the George Sherriff Invitational in Hamilton ON. Tyler won the overall B grade professional Piobaireach category this past summer during his first competitive season in the professional level. This moved him into the A grade piobaireach and puts him in the top professional level in Ontario.
Tyler’s piping students have also had competitive success. Some of their achievements include winning the B Division Strathspey/Reel at the Toronto Piper’s Society Knockout contest in 2013 as well as making it to the finals of that same knockout series. Three of Tyler’s students have also placed first in their respective grades after a successful competition season in the Ontario Highland Games circuit this past summer.
Tyler has been teaching guitar and bagpipes at JamSchool for 10 years and has been heavily involved in putting together and instructing many of the rock bands at the school. He has also run several guitar orchestras, or “Guitorchestras”, with great success at the school’s year end concerts. He has a strong theory background and is comfortable with many genres including, rock, metal, jazz, country, blues, folk, and pop.
Here is what Tyler has to say about teaching at JamSchool:
“I am a huge proponent of our school’s performance based approach to music education and if I can instill in my students the same love of music and performing that was brought to me by my early music teachers then I consider that a success. Playing and performing with other musicians is so much more than learning tunes and going through the motions of churning them out in front of an audience. Playing in a band teaches responsibility and teamwork. It teaches kids and adults alike to perform under pressure and to work with others towards a common goal. It builds confidence and above all, it builds lasting friendships. My closest friends are all people I have met through playing music. As a 16 year old kid taking guitar and band lessons from Dan Drysdale, I formed lifelong friendships with the other kids Dan had put in the band with me. I am thrilled when I see the same kind of lasting friendships formed in the bands I am teaching at JamSchool. I am glad I can give kids and adults the same opportunities that I had as a young musician, learning a skill set and an art form while building lasting friendships along the way.”
Here is a clip of Tyler competing at the 2014 George Sherriff Invitational Competition