I am currently a student of Art Matthews, and have been one for almost four years. Since I had played the piano for about seven years, I decided to join my high school Jazz Band when entering the ninth grade. Little did I know that my many years of classical piano studying, had little to nothing to do with jazz piano. This is when I began lessons with Mr. Matthews. I was able to learn a great amount of jazz knowledge within my first few lessons, and instantly began to comprehend the world of jazz. Chords were immediately introduced, as well as the details of how they work and how I could use them while playing. Throughout the months to come, Mr. Matthews enlightened me with new ideas, concepts and music, always reminding me that there is not enough time in life to know everything about music, which helped encourage me to keep up with practicing. Art Matthews has not only used his experience with inspirational jazz pianists and many years of playing jazz, to help me learn. He has also taken advantage of the numerous musical computer programs available today. These programs have helped provide music, practice drills and games, as well as transcribing abilities to edit songs to our likings. Mr. Matthews uses these programs to his best advantage, and I have grown due to his patience and drive to learn and use them, not to mention his Woodshed CD. This CD was designed by Matthews, and contains an ample amount of helpful information for learning and practicing, that can be available during the lesson and at home. I have found Matthews' computer use both exciting and very helpful. As a senior in high school, I am still in my Jazz Band, and I can give much of my success in class credit to Art Matthews and his jazz knowledge and teaching abilities.