About the Author

Jessica Anne Baron

Jessica Baron founded and serves as Executive Director for Guitars in the Classroom, an organization that brings music making to education by integrating singing, strumming and songwriting with learning throughout the school day and across the curriculum. Jessica created the first developmental guitar instruction method and she has written six groundbreaking books in the field of music education. She passionately believes that we are all unique musical beings with individual pathways we must find and follow to learn to make music.

Jess trained in special education and educational therapy in college and afterwards, then spent years in California teaching music in schools and serving as a human development educator at Crossroads School of Arts and Sciences while earning her Masters degree in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University. That study and experience combined with a fascination with how people learn music prepared her to create musical programs and curricula that help anyone become more whole, healthy, and creative.

She co-authored the highly successful MusicMakers curriculum for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, the International House of Blues Foundation’s Make an Impression guitar program, and her best-selling guitar method, SmartStart Guitar as well as her parenting book, YOUR MUSICAL CHILD: Inspiring Kids to Play and Sing for Keeps (Hal Leonard, 2004).

The Green Songbook marks her seventh and Guitars in the Classroom’s first official publication. She takes no royalties from this book, dedicating all earnings to providing free teacher trainings through GITC. She lives in Encinitas, California with her son, Eli, two lizards, and an irresistible shih tzu named Homer. She enjoys eating rocky road ice cream, lying in the grass, playing guitar and singing songs, gardening, cooking, walking on the beach, watching for green flashes, and hanging out with kids and teachers. She hopes you really love this book.