Re: Teaching a newcomer

[Laurie Amat <voicesound@att.net>]

Might I add that I agree with Rick about the voice, and also to suggest to 
your friend that they use the voice not just for melodic sound, but as a 
percussion instrument and simple sound maker as well. One thing you might 
try is to have them start with a loop of very sparse little sounds, not 
necessarily singing, that way they can hear what it is about, recognize 
what they've done, and add little by little to their original. They can 
even imitate other things, such as machines, animals, the possibilities 
are endless. Not feeling the pressure to "sing" will enable them to relax 
and you can then put forth the idea that there isn't a wrong way to learn. 
It's true that at some point they might overdo it, or they might not like 
it, but it will be a visceral and natural approach and with the off 
button, no foul, no harm (since we're on baseball today-I love Timmy!) 

But I think it's really important to remind your friend that the voice is 
a toy that can do whatever he wants. Just like when he was a child. And it 
can be fun and pretty funny too. The use of the voice is so personal and 
can be a loaded proposition for some. Fun, Fun, Fun and goofy can be a 
good approach.

I'll think more about this learning thing...

On Jun 27, 2012, at 5:37 PM, Rick Walker wrote:

> On 6/27/12 12:05 AM, kay'lon rushing wrote:
>> 
>> Dont think I've seen this posted before so i thought I'd ask, what are 
>> some ways to go about teaching a friend about live looping? I have a 
>> friend that wants to get into it however he has very little experience 
>> with any instrument to my knowledge. And my only experience is mainly 
>> from piano which I doubt he would want to take years to learn. What are 
>> some good approaches I can take to getting him started?
>> 
> I teach people all the time, professionally and concur with Matt's 
> advice.
> 
> Human voice is probably the quickest way to get them interested in the 
> tools.
> 
> I just work with them on getting them to make a rhythmic loop that isn't 
> lumpy so that
> they understand how important it is to begin a loop at the exact time 
> that they start
> singing/playing and then truncating the loop on the next appropriate 
> downbeat of their
> loop.
> 
> This can take a while.    I also wait until they have a few successes 
> under their belt before showing
> them additional features (reverse, speed shifts, replace features, etc.).
> 
> What's important I find it to get out of their way and let them make 
> mistakes.......you can see if they
> are not understanding something important but it's more powerful to let 
> them learn from their own
> mistakes unless they get stuck behind a concept.
> 
> rick
>