Who we are
The Instructors
My name is Max McClenahan and I was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada.
I started music rather late - I didn’t start playing guitar until I was 15. It quickly grew into an obsession where I would spend up to 8 hours a day practicing. I was at a rough point in my life and music helped me get through with my sanity relatively still in tact.
Music not only helped me express my creativity, but it helped me in learning to be sociable and even how to make friends (which for a painfully, awkwardly introverted teen means a lot). From this obsession grew a desire to learn the how and why music works and I fell headlong into the beautiful, bottomless pit of music theory.
I came to realize music and bringing music to others was a passion I wanted to pursue, so I moved to Hollywood when I was 18 to continue my education at Musician’s Institute to pursue a career in performing.
A semester away from graduation, I developed carpal tunnel and arthritis, which derailed my degree in Guitar Performance. It was at that point that I had to rethink music in general and decided to pursue Audio Engineering, that way I could record others and produce music.
Several semesters and many sessions of physical therapy later, I gained most of the use of my hands back and it became a necessity to play with the utmost proper technique. This is why I’m such a stickler for proper technique.
After obtaining my Associate Degrees in Guitar Performance and Audio Engineering, I moved to Washington to pursue a degree in Psychology. While there, I realized that my passion was actually bringing music to others in the form of teaching. I developed the mindset that instead of helping people through my own performance of music, it would be more effective if they could play music themselves.
I dropped my degree to apprentice with a great artist and teacher and watched for 2 years as he would not only teach people music but would use said music to help heal their souls. During those two years we traveled the country and passed through Sheridan multiple times, and I decided that I would start my God-given mission here.
In getting established, I started off at the YMCA, volunteering and then working with the Chess and Soccer programs, which led to the creation of the YMCA Guitar program - which I taught for almost 5 years. I then started Kids Jam with the help of my wife in 2019. Kids Jam is and was the pinnacle of my dream to bring the opportunity for youth to play and improvise with each other in a safe and healthy environment, offering them a healthy escape as it offered me in my youth.
It is still my goal to bring music to everyone who needs it, but my calling is to the youth, as they are our future.
My wife, Victoria, and I have two beautiful daughters who are very excited to start on their own musical journeys.
My name is Victoria McClenahan - I commonly go by Tori - and I am a mother of two spunky girls; wife of a fantastic musician and teacher; musician; artist; and nerd. I like to dye my hair bold colors, read almost anything, try out different art mediums, and play all kinds games, regardless of format.
I’ve been playing piano since I was 5, guitar since I was 15, and I’ve also dabbled in saxophone, violin, and flute. It’s my goal to one day learn to play the pan flute and become proficient enough in hand percussion to not be considered a beginner.
Piano is my primary instrument, guitar a close second. The piano journey hasn’t always been fulfilling, and I’ll admit I had to learn and relearn to love the instrument. The guitar journey actually started when I was young as well, but like all children I struggled with the strings hurting my fingers and not practicing. It was only when I got older that I really began to appreciate the guitar, in big part due to my grandma who had taught herself to play guitar as a child and wrote her own tunes (which I intend to teach my girls).
Ever since I was a child, I wanted to work with children in some capacity, felt it was my God-given calling. I never planned on being a teacher in the traditional sense, but meeting Max changed that. He pushed me to start classes at our local YMCA, and together we ended up taking over a few youth programs and starting our own. I can also thank him for being the musician I am today. When we met, I was quite the “classical snob”, but my improvisational skills lacked and my understanding of music was quite limited. I knew there were sounds I wanted to make on my instruments, but didn’t know quite how, and the more time I spent around him, the more I’ve grown in my musicality to the point that I now can make those sounds and teach children how to make the sounds they want to, as well.
The arts can be such a healing force, and I want to help make that available to all who need them. I hope you’ll come along for the journey!
