Re: Guitar Teacher protol

On Feb 6, 2:07 pm, EricAtUNC <eric.vanderv...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Feb 6, 5:18 am, Des Higgins <dazzhigg...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:



On Feb 5, 8:12 pm, Bobo <b...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

It's pretty straightforward:

1. You find a teacher and ask for lessons
2. Teacher says yes
3. At first lesson teacher asks what your goals are
4. You answer in an incoherent series of umm, ah, and well...s
5. Teacher nods as if that meant anything
6. Lessons continue for a few sessions
7. You reiterate, this time coherently, what you want
8. Teacher nod and says "Oh, I see" as if they were listening.
<months pass>
9. You develop "stomach flu" the day of lessons with increasing frequency
and cancel. (You know there's no such thing actually...)
10. You ring up and say you just don't have time at this point and
"You're going to take a break" and will "get in touch later".
11. You say "I should have done that months ago" and go to 1.

Here's some things the teacher has probably never heard before that you
can say to show you're that unique special student:

This is genius.
If I could insert my own comments from my perspective as a student...

- I really did practice this

I really did; that kills me. If I had skimped the practice, I try to
remember to admit it but it really does kill me when I screw up at
the lesson having put the effort in. It makes me feel like an idiot
and a liar. Mainly, when I screw up, though, it is because of lack of
practice :-)

- I played better at home

Ditto; I now realise, this is a mixture of truth and fantasy. I do
play better on my own cos it is not scary; I also play crap on my own
but do not realise it until I record it.

- I played this for 30 minutes solid and I still can't get it....

You been listening to my lessons you creep?

- I want to avoid listening to other music so I can develop my own sound

Whew; I listen all the time.

- Do you think I've got what it takes to go pro?

My teacher would fall off his chair in convulsions. Not an issue.

- I can't play it with a metronome but without I'm perfect.

Ok, my time is dire; without a metronome it is direr.

- I can play it fast, but not slowly

Not an issue; I can't play anything fast.

- I already know about music theory

I know little music theory but my theory is better than my chops so
double whammy.

The part that kills me in my weekly lesson is the sight reading. I do
one piece a week (slowly getting harder and harder over past year). I
can usually play it ROUGHLY well enough on my own that I have it
memorised (without trying to) after a few days. Then it gets hard to
practice. You just play it over and over but it is hard to get it
exactly right. Then when the lesson comes, the teacher counts in, and
my fingers turn to mush and my head spins and I collapse in a fit of
excuses and apologies like the ones above. The weird thing is, this
is sometimes worst with the easiest pieces. It is hard to practice
something that seems too easy. The harder pieces are hard in obvious
ways and my brain puts the effort in. Go figure.

Des

If you ever wonder if you're about to quit, ask your teacher. They'll
know you're
in a decaying orbit long before you will.

Finally a small joke that we used to tell in symphonic circles, which
requires some
understanding of the sad position that Violists occupy in that pecking
order. If
you really revile violists it makes the joke actually funny.

Violist plays for years, decades, at a big name symphony and finally
retires and
moves on. On his last day he goes to his locker at symphony hall and
collects his
coat and carrying his viola case walks out to the car and heads home.
He walks into his house as he has done after every performance for the
last 30
years and his wife looks up and says "What the hell is that?"

Real answer:
Ideally you set the goals and they give you the plan. Both parties must
understand this, which means it must be stated.

Regards,
b

Jazz Guy wrote:
I've never had Guitar lessons before in a one on one situation, is it
ok to state in lessons what areas you want to improve upon or do you
just go along with what the teacher feels you need to be taught?

Thanks

Guy- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Des, that was hilarious! I go through the exact same thing. I can
practice and practice and for that one moment where I'm put on the
spot, my hands go to mush and I look like a fool. This happens
especially when I have to read. I'm gaining more confidence in my
playing, so I'm getting less nervous during those moments.

As a student, I always record the lesson, listen back to it a few
times, practice, and formulate questions, all to prepare for the next
session. I dump these recordings to my laptop and label them properly
so I can review them at a later date. There are times where something
was explained to me but I didn't really 'get' it at first, then the
light bulb will go off, "Oh, so THAT'S what he was talking about...".
That being said, I can be an annoying student because I don't like to
move ahead with new material until I can 100% comprehend the current
material, which at times may require my teacher to explain something a
few different ways until I get it. I do realize that there are some
things I may be told as to plant the seed, without going into all the
detail.

Performing in public is what you have to aim to want to do as a
musician; otherwise it is all academic; so this scares the hell out of
me. There are people out there who have been legendary at having bad
stage nerves and never get over it. Personally, I can only compare it
to speaking in public which is something I have to do a lot of. At
first that is bowel looseningly terrifying. If you get terrified, you
clam up and cannot think; then you are in trouble. So you have to
relax; but how in the name of Dizzy Gillespie can you do that if you
are terrified? 1) know the stuff so well you can do it blindfold; 2)
practice (practice the experience of being terrified and coping with
it); 3) learn to relax (stay cool) even if undergoing life
threateningly scary fear. This has taken me years to learn with giving
talks. With music, I am having to start all over (learning how to do
that). So, I am having to learn how to play for people (is there no
end to the crazy things you have to learn to become a musician).
Sight reading when stressed is MURDER; I have no idea how the guys on
this newsgroup do it night after night. It impresses the hell out of
me.

Des




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