jbone
613 posts
Aug 17, 2011
5:11 AM
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wife and i recently gave a cd to the neighbors as a thank you for helping us get our pool set up. last weekend, another neighbor flagged us down as we were headed to the store and asked, do you give lessons?? my son heard you and wants to play like that! and the little girl next door also asked if she could sit in on a lesson or two. i said, sure, come by saturday at such and such a time.
a knock on the door last saturday and it's both kids with a mom in tow to oversee things. so we all got to know each other a little bit. the girl, maybe 11, seems to have some grasp of what to do with a harp while the boy, about 7 or 8, makes up for lack of skill with lots of enthusiasm (much like i did for years). he has a harp that his mom's boyfriend- now deceased- gave him, so it's a legacy not far off my own.
i am not much of a teacher really. i don't do scales or a lot of the basic beginner stuff and never have really. but the kids wanted me to play a song so i did a harp-only sonny terry thing i used to do a lot.
i showed them as best i could about bending a note or 2. kind of ran up and down the harp in 2nd position and did a little 1st as well- mary had a little lamb etc. when wife's shoulder gets a bit better- she has a deltoid problem right now and is in therapy- we plan to play for the kids as the duo. i recommended that these kids check out some youtube stuff if possible and see that a lot of young kids are actually playing harp.
next saturday i plan to show them actual pucker playing. i think tongue block may wait a week or 2.
what strikes me here is how powerful a tool music can be and how kids are our greatest gift and responsibility to try and usher in to what we know. however much or little i can give these kids, my hope is that one or both of them will actually develop skills as a harp player one day.
bottom line is for me, it's a sort of scary idea, that i have a responsibility to try and teach. but it's also a very good feeling to know that i have this opportunity to pass on something.
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Rich
51 posts
Aug 17, 2011
5:53 AM
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Fair play to you jbone!
I've never given a lesson on harp but I've taught kids other stuff. I work in the marine industry so its usually different knots or splicing or basic compass work etc, but I know the good feeling you're talking about.
Passing on knowledge and experience is a lovely thing to do but I think also essential. After all, if we don't pass it on it gets lost to time.
Well done and Good luck with it mate.
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Miles Dewar
1066 posts
Aug 17, 2011
7:45 AM
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Excellent! Good luck with them! Hopefully they stick with it and get good! Teaching kids how to be good at something they want to be good at is one of the most fulfilling endeavors put there. There's nothing like the loook on a kids face when he lands his first Truckstand...... Well......... Except for the look on YOUR face when you land your first truckstand.
"kids are our greatest gift and responsibility"........ I must disagree. lol ;)
OUR lives are our greatest gift.
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shadoe42
51 posts
Aug 17, 2011
3:29 PM
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I look at that as paying it forward. Even if the kid doesn't keep with it they get an introduction to music and maybe someday will pick it back up at some point.
If someone asks I always try to pass on a little of what I know. especially to kids. We have a fan of the band whose 10 year old son is also into us. Because of us he(the son) has picked up the guitar and harmonica. My girlfriend took a bunch of pictures of me teaching him one of the little chug riffs I do in one of our songs haha.
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The Musical Blades
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didjcripey
129 posts
Aug 17, 2011
8:52 PM
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Good on ya, jbone, dead right about music, kids and teaching. Don't worry too much about lack of expertise, one of the best things a teacher can do is to inspire their students to want to learn for themselves.
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Lucky Lester
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jbone
614 posts
Aug 17, 2011
10:07 PM
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well my story is, when i was just 4 years old, my dad died in a car wreck and i was left devastated. my mom's dad used to set me on his knee, call me mr. blue, and play harmonica and sing to me to see if he could cheer me up. which worked more than he knew. those times were too few and ended too quickly. years later is when i took up harp, but i may never have if not for my Gramps.
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Ant138
1065 posts
Aug 17, 2011
11:25 PM
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Nice work jbone:o)
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http://www.youtube.com/user/fiendant?feature=mhum
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BronzeWailer
221 posts
Aug 18, 2011
1:23 AM
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jbone, your story touched me, just as your music clearly touched those kids. One of my friends got sick of suing people as a lawyer and became a teacher, partly because he was inspired by a guy who coached us at soccer when we were callow youths (about 17 years old). The coach was only 22 at the time but obviously made a big impression.
I also note (and used to tell myself, as an English teacher in Japan) that you don't need to know everything, just more than the person you are teaching.
I am sure you will be a big positive influence on those kids. Good luck with your teaching endeavours! Maybe they will be on the MBH forum one day...
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shadoe42
52 posts
Aug 18, 2011
7:16 AM
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Just goes to show that you never know who or when you are making a lasting impression on someone
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The Musical Blades
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