“Mr. Scott” Getline passed away suddenly but peacefully on February 7th from a hemorrhagic stroke after an initial brain bleed several weeks before.
Scott was new to The Music Place, but he was so well loved! Students and staff were deeply touched by his kind, humble and yet fun manner. All who heard him were inspired to hear him play his tenor sax and perform with “Mr. Eleazar” in one of our Christmas recitals.
An extremely talented improvisational keyboardist, Scott came to us with the desire to offer that skill to work with students who have special needs, and as a result also loved teaching EMA. Eleazar, Caroline and Janice performed at an improvisational celebration of his life at Comedy Sportz improv club where Scott had provided the background music for over 10 years. We miss him so much!
Growing up in San Diego, Scott came from a musical family in which he and all his siblings played multiple music instruments. Inspired by his father's piano skills, Scott began learning piano at eight years old, and a few years leater added saxophone and flute. As a teenager, his skill was such that he was invited to play in numerous bands playing many genres of music. Later, after having two kids, Scott became the very popular director of the after school chorus at Robert Down Elementary school in Pacific Grove where he served for 10 years. Each year over 100 students would fall in love with music and song through his fun, easy going and creative approach to teaching.
Scott moved to the South Bay area in the mid 2000's and in 2012 became music director for Comedy Sportz, taking on the challenging task of accompanying improvisational theater performances. Then, not unlike many who took time to evaluate their life priorities during the Covid shutdowns, Scott began to pursue the idea of using music and teaching skills in order to make a difference in children's lives, and in particular, those who have special needs. As a result, he reached out to The Music Place where he found the perfect platform to serve the community with his gifts and passions.
At the same time, The Music Place found Scott to be a perfect candidate to be trained to teach Early Music Awareness, and happily embraced his wonderful skills in saxophone, flute, piano and naturally, Instrument Survey. And of course, he also enjoyed the challenge of teaching adaptive lessons for high functioning students with disabilities.
Teaching Style
Scott was a kind teacher who loved to make learning fun for his students, adapting his approach to accommodate each individual, but always sprinkling humor and a relaxed approach to keep kids engaged.
Instruments
- Saxophone
- Piano
- Flute
- Early Music Awarenss
- Instrument Survey