Sundancer
57 posts
Nov 15, 2016
10:44 AM
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Have any of y'all purchased any of these lessons? And gotten anything out of them? Reason I ask is that Udemy is running a big sale - $10 per course. There are two interesting looking harmonica courses - 101 Riffs and Sonny Terry Style playing - both with Ben Hewett as the instructor. Should I toss $20 at this?
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Killa_Hertz
1917 posts
Nov 15, 2016
3:55 PM
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I hesitate to say anything negative about anyone's lessons, but I REALLY did not care for them.
Go on spotify and search for some of bens lessons. I think they are on there too.
I bought the Sonny Boy 2 book and the 101 riffs book. And the way they are layed out is not ANYTHING like the way Ronnie Shellist or Adam would do them.
Ronnie plays the lick, breaks it down for you, then even shows you some different ways to use them in context. Sometimes adding to them.
Bens lessons are simply Ben playing a "riff" and then you have to go on the pdf and decode it. Which would be fine, if I found any of the riffs useful.
I would rather have 15 - 20 Solid riffs from ronnie shellist than 101 useless ones.
That's just my opinion.
Please go on spotify and give a listen. I would like to know if im crazy or not .... lol.
Btw ronnie shellist lessons are at harmonica123.com. ;^)
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Sundancer
58 posts
Nov 15, 2016
5:58 PM
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Ya saved me $20 Killa - thanks!
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Killa_Hertz
1919 posts
Nov 15, 2016
7:42 PM
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No problem. That came off a little harsh maybe, but ...
It can be very discouraging to buy lessons and not get what you hoped for.
Ben Hewlett is a good guy. I actually talked to him on the phone for quite a while one night. I told him (nicely) that his lessons just weren't for me. He actually refunded my money for those lessons. Which I'm sure he would do for anyone who was unpleased. But it's still a hastle.
Im sure i saw a few of his lessons on spotify. Have a listen, if you like them ... go for it. Learning material is subjective. Atleast you will know for certain if they are for you or not.
Last Edited by Killa_Hertz on Nov 15, 2016 7:43 PM
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MindTheGap
1885 posts
Nov 16, 2016
9:24 AM
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It's important to say that Ben Hewlett's books are quality items: precise and straightforward. His Sonny Terry material is well researched too. I agree that it's a different experience to e.g. learning from Ronnie Shellist.
I think it is more at the Tomlin Leckie end of the spectrum, and I like his materials very much too (I remember that you didn't Killa). My experience is that, after studying them, I can get a result which is pleasingly similar. Which is very satisfying for a 'distance learner'. Whereas, although I really enjoyed lessons with Ronnie, there was simply no chance that I could replicate his sounds, as it's composed of multiple layers of strong technique. Not to say that Ben and Tom don't have the techniques too, but in their lessons they keep it straight.
After a short while of learning, I learnt to decode riffs for myself, so I didn't the guiding hand of tabs or sheet music. But the audio samples are still useful.
Last Edited by MindTheGap on Nov 16, 2016 9:30 AM
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