Working and operating mostly out of his office, associate professor of saxophone Matthew Taylor works with students seeking to hone their craft at their instrument. 

Taylor works with music majors and minors, as well as anyone else who expresses an interest in learning more about the saxophone.

“I teach them privately and kind of create a sort of custom curriculum for each one of them so that they can keep getting better and better,” Taylor said. 

Taylor also teaches chamber music classes, which are usually small groups of students looking to work together to improve, and leads the studio jazz ensemble, which is the top jazz ensemble at UCA.

“I’ve been teaching saxophone for about 20 years now,” Taylor said. “I draw a lot upon my experience I’ve already had and I try to listen to students really carefully and find out what they want to do.” 

Since there are so many different concentrations in music education, Taylor focuses on the students first.

“Music is such a huge field, it’s such an individualized thing that I want to make sure I’m giving my students the things that they need, the sort of ingredients that they need in order to do what they want to do, rather than just making a clone of myself,” Taylor said.

Taylor works with students and adapts to their needs over time, allowing them to grow in the direction they wish.

“[It] usually starts with me talking to them about what kind of music they like to listen to and what kind of music they like to play,” Taylor said. “We just kind of go from there and I assign different pieces of music and come up with different projects that help them move forward toward those goals. It kind of happens organically.” 

One way that Taylor assesses new students is by allowing them to play in front of him music they have prepared. 

“A lot of times they will come to me with pieces already, so I hear them play something,” Taylor said.

If students do not show up with pieces prepared, Taylor has a piece already picked out for them.

“One of my favorite things to do if a student doesn’t have something ready is I will have them play ‘Happy Birthday’ because it’s surprisingly difficult,” Taylor said. “There’s a lot of intervals, it’s kind of angular. If it goes well, I’ll have them do it in another key, I’ll have them move up or down a half step or up a fifth or down a fourth or something like that. We’ll do that several times, and that will tell me if they have developed their sense of hearing, if their ears are good and they can match what they’re playing. It can also tell me if they know when they make a mistake and they can correct it.”

Since this is something that Taylor has his students play often, he’s heard “Happy Birthday” countless times.

“I think that I’m probably good to go for the rest of my life,” Taylor said. “It’s a terrible song.”

Taylor loves to spend his free time cooking and loves to make new dishes to post on Instagram, especially with recipes from food writer Alison Roman. 

“The one that I make the most she calls ‘The Stew,’” Taylor said. “It’s actually a vegetarian recipe but I have it in my weekly rotation and it’s my latest favorite. It’s chickpeas and coconut milk and all kinds of good stuff.”

Taylor also travels, having been all over the United States and in several countries. 

“I’ve been to a lot of places in Europe, Canada and Mexico,” Taylor said. “I’m planning a trip to Canada, which I’m looking forward to.”

Taylor said when he gets the time in his office back on campus to practice his own instrument, he takes the opportunity to do so.

“I’m lucky if I get an hour or two,” Taylor said. “Some days I barely get to practice my scales because I’m so busy.”

Despite the challenge of having limited time to practice his own instrument, Taylor enjoys having a busy schedule, as it reminds him of his musical experiences in the past. 

“I love it, the challenge,” Taylor said. “I freelanced as a musician for 10 years, so I know when you’re a musician, if you’re working, then you’re eating. Being busy is kind of like a part of it, you have to kind of be comfortable being busy to be successful as a musician.”

Taylor approaches each day with his students in mind first.

“Every morning, I look at my schedule and I look at the names I’m going to be meeting with that day and I think about what they’ve been working on,” Taylor said. “I look back on what they’ve worked on last week and I just try to be as prepared for them and as in the moment with them as I possibly can be.”

Describing himself as an open book, Taylor said that people can ask questions on anything and he will tell them what he thinks they should know. 

“The thing I want most for my students is for them to be curious and open-minded and have a sense of adventure and exploration,” Taylor said. “I want them to think like musicians, you know, and make decisions like musicians artistically.”

Taylor said his job is a dream to him and he feels fortunate to have his students.

“I’m very lucky because a lot of people want to come to UCA and study saxophone,” Taylor said. “I love what I do. I love getting to work with amazing people in this building and with my great students, so I leap out of bed every morning. I’m excited to do it. I want everyone to have that kind of experience in their lives to really do something they love and feel fulfilled by.”

Taylor said that he wants his students to enjoy the musical path they take throughout the course of their life.

“One piece of advice I would say is care very deeply but remember that it’s supposed to be fun,” Taylor said.