"Billie Eilish is my guilty pleasure."

It's no surprise that Mareike found her way to music. Her mother works as a music teacher for children, so she started playing the violin at the age of 7. The violin remained her instrument for 10 years. "It was a love-hate relationship," she admits. She particularly disliked finger exercises, and she almost exclusively played classical pieces.

When it came to choosing a career, Mareike considered studying music. But for that, she would have had to learn a second instrument. After a few attempts at the piano, she chose a different path. Although her love for music remained and Mareike still loved to dance, she didn't pick up an instrument for 10 years.

It all started again with a Christmas present.

A few years ago, Mareike's parents gave her a guitar for Christmas. The right present, as it would turn out later, but it came a little too early. Mareike was in the middle of her doctoral thesis, so the music had to wait a little longer. Only after she had completed her doctorate did she take the time.

"Now or never!" Mareike told herself and started teaching herself the guitar. She taught herself chords using a book and online videos. Thanks to her musicality and some theoretical knowledge, she was able to learn the basics on her own at first. But at some point she hit her limits. "I started calling my mother and realised that guitar lessons via Zoom weren't the real thing," she says, laughing.

That's how Mareike came up with the idea of treating herself to professional music lessons. A search engine query led her to Instrumentor. She liked not only that she found several teachers with interesting profiles, but also that she could book her lessons flexibly. As Mareike often travels for work, this was very important to her.

She booked trial lessons with two different teachers, both of whom she thought were great, and chose Jonathan.

Electric guitar instead of flamenco.

Originally, Mareike wanted to learn the guitar from scratch and mainly play Spanish music like flamenco. She was also interested in styles like Portuguese fado or tango.

But with Jonathan, she realised what she liked so much about his lessons: that she could open herself up to new music and quickly switch off from everyday life. "Jonathan chooses feel-good music," she says, beaming. And adds straight away: "And at home I can sometimes play Billie Eilish, that's a guilty pleasure of mine."

Mareike's taste in music is very broad. Besides Spanish music and Billie Eilish, she also enjoys film scores, 80s pop and reggae. Because the guitar is such a versatile instrument, she can play many songs that she likes.

That's how Mareike started playing electric guitar and expanded her repertoire. She is generally very open to Jonathan's suggestions and plays songs by the Beatles, Sting or jazz melodies. At the same time, she appreciates that Jonathan also teaches her scales and not only provides the necessary theory, but also his appreciation for music and its history.

Next goal: singing and playing guitar.

On average, Mareike visits Jonathan for a music lesson about every two weeks. When she talks about it, her eyes light up. "Music lessons are better than any therapy!" No matter how stressful the day was and what Mareike had on her mind, as soon as the lesson starts, it takes just a few minutes and she's forgotten the world.

When Mareike is at home, she practises more or less. There are weeks when she plays for up to 90 minutes at a stretch. At the same time, she very much appreciates that when she's busy with work, she can go to the lesson without having practised. "The pressure of music lessons that I had as a child is completely absent here." This has led to Mareike now even doing finger exercises voluntarily. She also appreciates that she has a better feeling for the guitar and plays with the whole instrument.

Mareike is currently building up even more confidence. "I'd like to be able to play guitar and sing at the same time," she sums up her next goal. She can well imagine playing in a band at some point, but right now she doesn't have the time. At the moment, she's simply happy that she can pursue her passion for music without pressure.