Be the Change – Sean Wilson

Sean Wilson discovered the magic of music through the piano. Amid an unpredictable and unsettled home life, Sean found that “music just calmed me and let me express my anger, my sadness or my happiness. I could put my hands down on the keyboard and it would say how I felt. And it was instant, you know? I didn’t have to work at it; it just came to me.”

Practicing favorite tunes sparks love of learning

In his early 20s, Sean picked up a guitar. Although he found it more challenging than the piano, the challenge inspired him. He began to discover simple strategies for teaching himself – and then began to teach others.

What began as passing along tips and tricks became a lifelong passion for teaching music. Sean’s approach focuses on hands-on learning driven by interest, jumping straight into teaching students how to play their favorite songs instead of learning through repeated drills of scales and arpeggios. “I teach someone and they say, ‘Wait, that’s it?’ And I say, ‘Yeah, isn’t that cool?’”

Nine-year-old Brighton has been taking lessons with Sean for over a year. Brighton’s mom, Tiffany Gunsauls, loves “watching Sean adapt his teaching methods throughout the lesson to ensure the concepts are understood. He has a knack for making the lessons fun and inspiring, sparking a love for music for both my daughter and me. Sean can step outside of where Brighton’s fingers are landing and tune into what she is thinking during each portion of the lesson.”

Sean’s love of music and his fun approach to teaching makes learning a musical instrument a joyful experience for his young students. Photos by Pamela Newman.

Childhood school struggles lead to inspired teaching

Sean’s intuition into his students’ minds comes from his love of teaching. Although he struggled in school as a child, he became a schoolteacher, primarily for junior high. “Teaching was always kind of an interesting juxtaposition from somebody who hated school,” Sean admits with a laugh. “But I love seeing the smiles on students’ faces when they realize they can do this.” When his own children were in their 20s, he returned to college to earn a master’s in education and technology. Sean sees teaching as a legacy that passes to future generations. “I tell my students that everything I teach you means that I will live through your hands,” Sean says.

Fostering a legacy of giving and receiving at Red Bluff’s Modern Music

Having recently retired from nearly 20 years in the classroom, Sean now spends more of his time teaching music – guitar, ukulele, bass, drums and piano. Some of his lessons take place at Tehama E-Learning Academy (TeLA), where he sees music bring students into greater confidence and community. One of his students, after only a few months of lessons with Sean, played the national anthem at his basketball game. “He just killed it!” Sean exclaims with pride.

Sean also teaches at Modern Music, his small music shop in Red Bluff, which he opened in 2023. Sean and his shop have become a networking hub for connecting people with instruments. About a decade ago, Sean decided to give away an extra guitar he had. “I wasn’t using it, but it played beautifully,” he recalls.

He posted the instrument on Facebook, gave it away for free and ended up receiving two more guitars in return. He found homes for those two instruments, only to begin receiving a steady stream of “pretty much any musical instrument you can think of” to pass along. People have sent Sean instruments from southern California. His sister donated two guitars to give away and a company in Chico has also contributed. “It’s really awesome,” Sean says. “So at my shop, whenever I have a student come in who needs an instrument, we can hook them up. I love it when I can put an instrument in someone’s hands.”

Kindness and kettle corn

Jim Carnes has known Sean since high school but built true friendship with him through playing together in ad hoc bands for events. Jim says Sean is “always asking around to find a way to help someone else,” such as when Sean gathered a backup band for local singer Dean Witts. “It was Sean’s idea to support him because he has so much talent, so we all came together and supported him,” Jim says. “Now Dean has grown quite a bit in his courage. He even auditioned for The Voice and made it through a few rounds.”

In addition to teaching and running his music shop, Sean and his wife, Melanie, own a kettle corn business in Red Bluff, known as Wilson and Kettle Corn. “We started doing the farmers market here in town and we’ve started doing other events too,” Sean says. “As my wife says, nobody is angry at kettle corn!”

From his shop clients to his students, to anyone else who crosses his path, Sean’s friendly, open kindness encourages his North State community. And, for those lucky enough to know him as a friend or teacher, life has a more positive pop and a sweeter tune.