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RE: developing musicians and a musical culture



It begins by finding the right teacher for you. Americans are not
inclined to just listen and absorb. We question or even rebel against
teachers/authority because our society allows it. That Hollywood bad
boy/girl image.

Anyway, there is no substitute for the fundamentals. If you don't have a
grasp of your scales and chords, you won't be able to move your fingers
to the proper place. There is certainly a philosophy to teaching, and
good teachers are able to keep a student interested. The student must
also be committed, as it is a partnership. Wax on, wax off, works, but
here in America, the teacher must explain why.

Attention to detail is lacking in many of people today. It is certainly
a skill that has to be learned, and continued practice of that attention
to detail (along with practice of your instrument) is a must. I'm sure
this may be easier for some, due to the parents influence on so many
aspects of our maturation process. Lucky for me my father was insistent
on performing tasks properly the first time. He correctly pointed out
that it ultimately saves time!

Alas, I don't have all the answers. I've had many poor music instructors
over the years. I've had a few that helped me over the next peak. Was it
the instructors fault or mine? I would say both. If the student doesn't
ask the teacher the question, how can the teacher assist the student? As
with our healthcare system, we must take control over what we
have/do/say. I can't expect the doctor to tell me what is wrong if I
don't communicate with him/her. 

This group operates in much the same way. If we don't know, we ask.
Someone answers and we gain knowledge. Often the answers lead to other
questions.


Respect
 
Will Brake
Soul Fruit Electronics
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Greg House [mailto:ghunicycle@yahoo.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2003 11:02 AM
To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
Subject: developing musicians and a musical culture

--- Mark Sottilaro <sine@zerocrossing.net> wrote:

> I'm not sure I agree about the whole instant gratification thing.  I 
> think that our culture has too deep of a division between musician and

> everyone else.  Too many teachers begin giving students dry drills.  
> Turns them off to music forever... or at least to the idea of being a 
> musician.  A box that's got some instant fun involved can spark a fun 
> aspect and get a student to move forward.  Many, of course, will 
> realize it's not for them and drop it, but I think it's not
necessarily 
> a bad thing all the time.

I think you're absolutely right. There's been a very rigid view of music
instruction over the years and it's crippled a lot of people creatively.
I had a
piano teacher when I was a little kid who definitely discouraged me with
her
perfectionism and emphasis on music I didn't connect with. Between her
and my
parents refusal to continue paying for guitar lessons when I didn't
practice
regularly, I put the playing of music aside for many years. It was only
toward
the end of my time in college that I picked it back up. Such a shame to
have lost
some of the best years for learning that sort of thing.

I remember the first time I played an electric guitar through an amp
with
distortion. Talk about instant gratification! AND instant inspiration!
That one
experience changed my perspective on what I was capable of (and my
friend never
found out that I'd been messing with his stuff while he was gone...)

Here's a question for all of you. Given that there ARE hundreds
(thousands?) of
years of musical experience which can be learned from, how do we learn
(and
teach) in such a way that creativity is encouraged, enthusiasm is
maintained, and
we still encourage the discipline and knowledge accumulated over the
years? How
do we encourage our culture to -create-? How do we knock people out of a
"spectator mentality"?

Greg

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