Teacher Profile: Jibrael Malik

About Jibrael Malik

Jibrael “Jibby” Malik earned his B.A. in music at The George Washington University, where he focused on classical guitar performance while studying under renowned Paraguayan guitarist Berta Rojas, as well as focusing on piano composition. A highly trained performer in both classical piano and classical guitar, Jibby loves nothing more than sharing his musical knowledge with the next generation of young musicians.

Jibby began his musical studies at age 7 with the saxophone, switched to guitar at age 10, and progressed to piano and composition study while pursuing his degree. Having diverse musical interests from classical to folk and rock, Jibby’s passions are the piano and the classical guitar, both of which he believes demand the performer to have a holistic understanding of music in order to play melody and harmony simultaneously. His studies have exposed him to a variety of styles: from the standard piano repertoire, to Renaissance and baroque lute repertoire, to classical and contemporary Latin American music. His favorite composers to play are Chopin on piano and Barrios on guitar, with Bach on both instruments. He has performed in guitar ensembles and also in duets with vocalists. He has also played guitar and bass in several rock bands. As an active composer, Jibby has created several works for both piano and guitar as well. As an adult, he currently focuses his practice time on the piano, which he practices several hours on a daily basis. This passion for music and practice is what Jibby brings to his students, where practice is seen as a joy rather than a chore.

Jibby loves teaching music to children, and started a guitar club for elementary and middle school students at the middle school where he taught math. He is well versed in all music styles and can teach a wide range of classical to popular music. His specialities are young beginners in both piano and guitar study, where he has many years of experience teaching children as young as 3 years old, as well as intermediate and advanced classical piano and guitar. He has worked with all different personality types of children. Jibby constantly researches all of the existing teaching methods, whether it be Faber or the RCM or ABRSM, and combines his favorite aspects of each method to create a solid and rigorous curriculum tailored to each student’s individual needs. Along with more traditional approaches to teaching, Jibby also enjoys teaching students pop songs from their favorite movies and video games, so that the skills they learn in their lessons can be applied to their every day life.