I've had a few students who came to my house for lessons but it just got to be too much. My wife was just not a big fan of coming home to find strangers in her house all the time plus it was taking too much of my time. It breaks my heart to tell someone "no" so I have a new plan.
I looked for a good place to give public lessons, but just didn't find anything that fit the need. The owner of a new brewery in town heard my band and asked about lessons. Hopefully he has my solution. He said Mondays are slow and I can have the stage area and when weather permits on the patio. He wants no cut and gives me free beer.
I posted two days ago and already have 9 committed. $$ wise it makes much more sense. It's only 8 minutes from my house. I plan on offering 8-10 minute "one on one" after the hour is up for anyone that wants to stick around.
My experience is that instant gratification keeps a new player going. My focus is to teach big, relaxed single notes with good tone, playing simple riffs, and put some feel into it. All second position.
People have told me they signed up when they saw the "no notes to learn or read" quote. I hope to make it fun and have them jamming to tracks ASAP...Then, I'll base where I go from there on what the students desire. I'm sure some will want more theory etc. while others will be content having fun with the simple stuff. Fine. I can split classes however I need.
I'm proud to say that my first student from three years ago (age 62) just accepted an offer to join a local blues band. Another gentlemen (age 71) that I started a few months ago is playing at open mics with his guitar buddy.
I'm sure if I was teaching a roomful of 7th graders I would teach a more structured curriculum....but my first objective is to see them playing along and enjoying themselves. Then let the student guide his own direction.
The approach looks great. I've been thinking about doing something too but since I live in the middle of nowhere I'm not sure I'll get much. Note, $10 min. means, I assume, minimum, but I read it as $10/minute first. min. does abbreviate minute
good luck with that, i bet you make some money. however, i just can't help but recoil at your appeal to the lowest common denominator and promotion of musical ignorance and illiteracy. ----------
TO each his own Jlnx. Most of the blues legends didn't have proper training. I care more about seeing people smile and have fun. I'm teaching blues here, not Beethoven.
That said I can take them where they want to go.
I just bet if I spend the first lesson with a chalk board explaining 4/4 time and what modes are I'll lose 2/3s.
I think that it is a brilliant idea.The 'naturals' will pick up the basics and then want to dive deeper ,the Blues is easy crowd will have a good time and then drop off when they realise that it ain't. Basically everyone is a winner imo. Good on you Harpdude.
We've got something similar here in Cardiff, South Wales. Costs £5 (7.5 USD) and everyone is welcome. We've got absolute beginners, right through to regular live performers and our leader Aidan is a full time professional musician and music teacher. It works. It really works. IMHO it's a hearts and minds thing. Grab the heart and if the will is there, the mind will follow. Good luck Harpdude. If you get the chance perhaps you let us know how it all goes.
Well, there's one folk here who I bet is fun at a party. I wish we had an opportunity like this around here. I'd be a better harp player, more comfortable playing with other people, and have another group of friends with a common interest. Like Gipsy, I'd like to hear how it goes.
Einstein had an opinion: "It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge." The alternative is to bludgeon them into total boredom. It is much too familiar to me that the general public is happy to offer up expert opinions on teaching (learning) when they don't have legitimate, much less successful, experience in doing it. I believe that this is because they/we do have years of experience as students -it's familiar. We don't do it with carpentry, medicine, accounting... *this is one area where I do have plenty of successful experience.
Last Edited by Littoral on Mar 22, 2015 7:46 AM
Does "NO notes to learn or read" mean no tabs? Will your students have to rely on their memory of what you taught? ---------- "You can't just copy somebody. If you like someone's work, the important thing is to be exposed to everything that person has been exposed to."
For 10 bucks it's a great opportunity and a huge bargain for beginners to learn if they have the foundation or desire to go further. The Golden Melody in C would be incentive enough for me but I can't justify the mileage.
Great idea Harpdude . . . and I wish you much success. You'll be inspiring people to have fun . . . and if they want to delve deeper it's their choice.
Nothing kills the desire to learn a new skill faster than an ultra-serious, humor-impaired instructor (and I seriously doubt you fall into that category) ---------- Marr's Guitars
Offering custom-built Cigar Box Guitars for the discriminating player of obscure musical unstruments
There is a similar group in New Smyrna Beach FL that I attend on a regular basis. 2nd Thursday of the month. It is a lot of fun and everyone, no matter what level, walks away with something new learned. There is a "sidewalk" jam across the street at "The Brewery" right after class that helps new players play along. The format works, and is a lot of fun. I might be able to attend your class some Monday in the summer. I have a motorcycle riding buddy that lives in Johnson City. I ride thru there a few times every year.
The 'no theory' approach for beginners is good; I don't know a single harmonica player (yet) - myself included - that didn't start playing by ear, usually from vinyl albums (remember those big, black CDs?). Theory can always come later; let them discover the joy of the instrument first.
---------- My YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ2_8CnjaiNLcPke4gWQ65A
Littoral, Harpdude61, and Danny etc are correct about engaging people first, but I also understand the perspective of Diggsblues and Jinx to a degree.
Primacy in learning is a key principle of educational psychology.
"Primacy, the state of being first, often creates a strong, almost unshakable, impression. Things learned first create a strong impression in the mind that is difficult to erase. For the instructor, this means that what is taught must be right the first time. For the student, it means that learning must be right. “Unteaching” wrong first impressions is harder than teaching them right the first time. If, for example, a student learns a faulty technique, the instructor will have a difficult task correcting bad habits and “reteaching” correct ones.
The student's first experience should be positive, functional, and lay the foundation for all that is to follow. What the student learns must be procedurally correct and applied the very first time. The instructor must present subject matter in a logical order, step by step, making sure the students have already learned the preceding step. If the task is learned in isolation, is not initially applied to the overall performance, or if it must be relearned, the process can be confusing and time consuming. Preparing and following a lesson plan facilitates delivery of the subject matter correctly the first time." ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principles_of_learning#Primacy
I'm not just being self promotional here but HarpNinja was developed with this in mind. To help beginners visualize the inner workings of the harmonica, build their internal mental model faster, and introduce "easy" music theory. [yes, I know it's not perfect...I'm working on it]
We lose perspective sometimes as experienced players about what it is like to pick up this instrument the first time and try to understand it.
Listen to what Hugh Laurie says about Harmonica:
I wonder how many people that influenced into NOT trying to learn harmonica?
Hugh has a point it's easier to play mary had a little lamb on the piano first time out than on a harmonica. I've always called it a blind instrument. Sure play some chords and sound like your making music but just getting a single tone is an achievement. ----------
I sometimes get my classics confused in my head, so don't quote me on my attribution, but one of those old Greek or Roman guys, (it might have been Isocrates) had different rates for his students. The low rate was if you were a new student, but if you'd had lessons from someone else he charged you more, since he figured he'd have to unteach some mistakes.
That said, that's not the same thing as giving lessons without theory. Getting people to the point where they can get good single notes and have some basic idea which side of the harp to blow in, and getting them enthusiastic is a good first step, and for a lot of would be students it's the only step that will get them to take a second step. I learned music and got turned off of music by some very boring step by step teachers; that's why I'm not hanging out on a baritone forum.
Later, I got into singing, and that got me into a bit of theory, but unless you have perfect pitch just singing is a hard way to learn theory. With that in mind, when I started learning harmonica I started with the idea that I was just going to play to have fun and not take it seriously. I did that long enough until I reached my self-stated goal of being good enough so that I could play well enough to entertain myself. By that time though I'd fallen in love with playing.
It's funny, the gap between when I learned a bit of theory (chord inversions, circle of fifths, all that fun stuff) and when I finally got to use it had to have been 20 years. I suspect if I'd had a teacher who was able to calibrate his lessons more to the individual students I would have progressed farther as a baritone player.
I'm just reading Thomas Brothers's masterful study, LOUIS ARMSTRONG'S NEW ORLEANS. One of his main points is that Armstrong came up in a by-ear, vernacular music environment grounded in African American performance practices. That's what the great majority of black musicians in turn-of-the-century NOLA worked with. Kid Ory, King Oliver: they weren't sight readers. They came from the "ratty" part of town. They played the blues.
But at a certain moment, Armstrong crossed over to the white side of town--which is to say, the Creole side of town, where the lightskinned guys (often with Spanish and French sounding last names, like Perez) with smooth tone, no syncopation, and great sight-reading chops lived. They tended to look down on the black players.
That's sort of the way that diggs and jinx are looking down on Catfish--and for the same reason. Interesting.
I think there's a lot of validity in the (black) vernacular blues harmonica tradition, Catfish. I'm glad you're doing it that way.
"I think there's a lot of validity in the (black) vernacular blues harmonica tradition, Catfish. I'm glad you're doing it that way."
I wouldn't call it specifically a tradition limited to black vernacular blues. That osmosis learning system pretty much underlies all music teaching traditions across cultures - especially when learning folk, roots, traditonal or world music styles. It works. (though sometimes, like in Japan, they also turn it into an economic system to sustain the teacher - which isn't such a bad thing sometimes!)
I'm just saying you should be able to tweak it a little without losing people or overloading them.
The instrument itself is a piece of technology after all.
Anything that shortens the learning curve while maintaining interest and engagement is worth trying imo.
Why do folks divide into "theory" and "by ear" tribes and throw spears at each other? There are great musicians in both camps. I don't think learning a bit of theory will ruin your blues chops. It might even get you were you want to be faster. On the other hand, who cares if you know that great sounding note you just played was a flatted 7th, it sounded great. You can get to a destination without a map by asking people along the way, by trial and error, or you can learn to read a map, who is to say which journey will be more epic. Holding off on the map might take you places you would have never otherwise gone, but then so could using a map.
If I were in Catfish's area I would show up for a lesson.
You'll be making ready made fans who will support and show up or your gigs, promoting the Harmonica, AND making some cash doing it. I hope you have a great showing!
It IS about building those relationships, and I know you understand that very well.
i guess theory can be off-putting to some, and maybe best not to present it unless you have a clear idea about how to make it engaging. years ago i went to some classes which seem to be a little like this idea. the guy had prepared some printed material and a disc with examples of the songs. i think he played guitar and played harp on the recordings. he drew on a few other people's work (like Jon Gindick). presenter was a guitar teacher employed by education department, so he knew enough about harmony to answer those questions and enough about teaching to be able to structure some lessons. he told me not to come to any more after the first one, so i'm not sure how it progressed after that
I was from the hip always. Very little instruction in a formal sense. I know it shows to my peers especially the more accomplished ones, but at some point I decided to listen to my audience as well as my peers. If it feels good, gets you through a song, and is pleasing to peoples' ears, I say that's a job well done. I tried to teach a couple of kids harmonica not long ago. The younger one dropped out at the chugging stage, the other kid was such a challenge. I did not know all the individual things one must do to make a particular note and I was having to stop and analyze every thing i was doing. It was a sort of epiphany for me but the kid got disgusted and quit. If it isn't fun, somewhat fast paced, and engaging yet simple, students can easily get bored. I think too, if a student is paying a bit for the lesson it is an incentive for them to pay attention and learn something. Otherwise it's just not that important.
You forge ahead Duane. ---------- http://www.reverbnation.com/jawboneandjolene
I hear this often..."Hey man, enjoyed your band. I've got a harmonica somewhere at home. I always thought it sounded cool and thought I could learn to play. I read the pamphlet that came with it and tried the hole blocking thing to get those single notes. I got frustrated and gave up."
Those pamphlets don't teach the important things. Mainly relaxation. People see that small hole, make their mouth shape to that size, and the tension allows for very little. They don't teach embouchure, bending techniques, or 2nd position.
My goal is to have every student having fun ASAP. I know I can entertain and get them relaxed.
No, I won't teach tabs either. I developed what I call the language method. First, we learn big relaxed single notes (alphabet), then we go to short licks (words), from there to phrases (sentences), and on to complete 12 bar solos (paragraph). Writing your own story is improvisation.
I also teach the "figure it out method" at a certain point. I'll find a five or six note phrase from a youtube video. "Find the correct harp and play this phrase for me next lesson." They learn so much this way.
Even though I won't teach note names or tabs, I will teach them what the notes are in relation to the position being played. They do need to understand root note, major 5th, and flat 7th.
I also teach "feel" from day one. If the only lick you can play is 4 draw, to 3 draw, to two draw...do it with passion and emotion.
AS someone left behind in the singing dept. I plan on trying a little exercise...alternating between playing a simple phrase and singing the same phrase. I'm gonna make a fun game called "How bluesy can you play and sing this phrase"? FUN!
Sure I will be using Gussow and Ricci videos. It's not stealing. It's exposing students to some of the best. Hopefully they will buy material, attend a clinic, or go to a live show.
One thing I did pick up on in my experiences at jam camp and Hill Country.....Students want to play in class and play a LOT!
Lastly, I am not a know it all. I expect to learn from student feedback and I will pay close attention to how they respond to everything.
Teaching notes by interval is a good plan -- more applicable to positions than note names. ---------- "You can't just copy somebody. If you like someone's work, the important thing is to be exposed to everything that person has been exposed to."
Due to the fact that most have grown up listening to music played correctly, my approach is that the student already has the music theory implanted inside...they just need to eventually put correct music terminology to what they already know.
Once students understand this, it takes all the angst out of the concept of learning theory. ---------- The Iceman
Not sure why you would ruin a good thread by posting that Komuso?
I certainly don't claim I have the best methods. That said I am a very observant person that believes in learning from experience. I have only had six students, but I have been to several harp clinics as well as one on one lessons from some great players.
I consider this somewhat of an experiment as well as a learn as I go project.
Many players will tell you they are not good teachers. All my students have told me that they sense I care, explain things well, and that I teach my methods at a comfortable pace.
Sorry I won't be ordering your material. I'm sure it's great. I just wanna do my thing.
Here is my current take on theory in teaching. I think we want to encourage people to make music. Music is an art form based on sound. There are no rules to making art. But there are (ever-changing) cultural norms that determine what sounds good or bad. Experimentation and pushing boundaries is a good thing in art. And we do need to preserve the joy and accessibility of music making in teaching.
So where does music theory come in? Music theory is descriptive, not prescriptive. It was developed to describe European classical music, so that musicians and composers could speak the same language to describe what they were doing or wanting. It allowed an otherwise in-the-moment experience of the art to be preserved and reproduced.
If you look at music theory that way you will see that at some point in the teaching progression we need a bit of theory so that we can speak the same language. How far you need to go in teaching blues music, or folk music in general, is the question. So far I believe that you don't need to go all the way to reading music. Now we have lots of ways to record music so that we can study it. And blues music in particular, being micro-tonal, polyrythmic, and improvisational, is not particularly well described by music theory. But there is still a significant amount of theory that we need to learn (over time) in order to be able to communicate with other blues musicians about what we do.
Edited to add: I think you are on the right track with this new venture, Harpdude61. Best of luck with it. ----------
Last Edited by mr_so&so on Mar 23, 2015 1:57 PM
I think the no theory approach is just fine, lots of players learned without theory and sometimes theory can scare or overwhelm beginners.
I think it is a mistake to assume the blues legends didn't know theory. That's a slippery slope stereotype. We don't know what they knew. Even if they were interviewed saying they didn't know theory, remember, they had an image to project and they might have held back their knowledge so others would not learn and steal their gigs.
Most musicians don't learn theory in school. Did any one who was in band learn any theory? Or did we learn to read music and play pre written scales? That's not theory. Those who were music majors in college learned theory but I guarantee you most club musicians playing blues, rock, country, folk, reggae, funk, punk didn't major in music.
Most musicians learn theory by gigging with other musicians. "OK, we're coming in on the five..." What did he just say? What's a Five? I'd better listen to the band every time someone says that and figure out what it means.
Therefore it is my belief that most blues legends knew as much about theory as most pro club musicians do today and they learned it on the gig. But that's just my opinion.
The problem is to get hired for the gig, you have to show skills. Most pro players aren't born with natural talent. They discover an obsession. They practice a boatload in whatever way they can. Then, when they go see live bands and talk to the musicians, the musicians figure out the person is learning and lets them sit in. Sit ins lead to more sit ins, someone hires the beginner and suddenly they are in the deep end of the pool, learning theory on the gig.
But most hobbyists do not have this obsession or discover it after they already have bills they are responsible for. It is very difficult to develop pro chops when you have to work 40 hours a week, especially with children. Not impossible, just difficult. Therefore most hobbyists do not get on stage and don't get hired, they don't learn theory anywhere and they remain at a hobbyist level.
That is why I teach theory to beginners. It is my belief that unless you have a learning disability, with the right teacher who has clear explanations, anyone can learn theory. It may take a few years, but it will take. I have seen it again and again. Over and over I have taught at group class seminars. My regular private students are almost always the strongest players in the class. I believe theory to be the shortcut to pro level playing.
If I notice a student showing great resistance to theory I will try and work without it. But repeatedly, they ask questions that I can only answer with theory. I explain we can either try theory or ignore the question until it ultimately becomes resolved by ear, which it might. The next step becomes their choice.
Look, theory is awesome. Don't want it? Great, more for the rest of us.
Last Edited by Michael Rubin on Mar 23, 2015 10:14 AM
I agree with Michael-you need the basic language of music ( what a chord is , what a root note is , nashville numbering system etc) so you can be understood on the band stand
Beyond that - if the person stays interested in music they will seek out some of the "whys" of music later on
to Adam's comment
Kid Ory and King Oliver came out of more marching band and tailgating tradition than blues as we usually think of it--It became known as hot jazz. What they called blues was more use of blue notes than more typical blues structure
Great post Mr. So & So. Michael, You are probably correct. I suppose they did learn theory in their own way. I guess I compared it to taking theory my senior year in high school.
Also Michael Rubin...from lesson one ANY student interested in going deeper than what I teach will be directed to your videos. ---------- www.facebook.com/catfishfryeband
Louis Armstrog was not an uneducated musician. He was taught to read music as a child by Peter Davis, the bandleader at the Colored Waif's Home for Boys, where Armstrong was sentenced. In his late teens, Armstrong studied to improve his sight reading to take a job in Fate Marable's all-reading band. After he left New Orleans, Armstrong worked various big bands where he had to read difficult trumpet parts. In the early 1920s, Armstrong wrote out several of his showpieces, including his solos, in order to copyright them. ---------- "You can't just copy somebody. If you like someone's work, the important thing is to be exposed to everything that person has been exposed to."
I miss the classroom setting. I get too easily distracted trying to learn theory from YouTube, and only do a little better reading it. Something about sitting for a lecture and having homework, and even a bit of that judgement from the other students look and see you didn't have your homework done. I can pick a harp up and play and have fun and learn, but the theory part seems to be stuck back in Theory 101 circa 1990. It's not that the YouTube stuff is lacking, just that it's not a classroom. (For my money, the best single video I ever watched was Adam's one on the 12 bar structure. I knew I needed to learn it, and I'd gotten to the point where I could clearly hear the chord changes, but sitting there with music playing on his video and him pointing to the bar changes. (I also used it to show my one guitar friend how to play the blues).
Many beginners like myself have little time to even practice, so the lure of not having to additionally learn theory is doubly attractive.
Also, I do realise that a one-on-one session would definitely improve my technique, but I'm just too uncomfortable playing in front of a stranger - especially one who for all I know is just waiting to berate me. A session like this has the advantage of safety in numbers, and each participant will have the opportunity to get to know the teacher first, and feel more confident about personal sessions thereafter.
Harpdude, it seems you were fated to take your teaching methods to this route, but I'm pretty sure it's for the best. The best of luck to you.
@Harpdude61 Sorry, I offended you! It offended me too!
I left out the context. I was just making a wry observation on Iceman's comment "Due to the fact that most have grown up listening to music played correctly, my approach is that the student already has the music theory implanted inside."
I think we talked about this before on another thread. I understand Iceman's point, and agree with it, but also think it assumes to much. That depends a lot on the students culture, nationality, and active listening skills, which can vary widely.
One of the few musical forms you can rely on here are Nursery Rhymes, which are very cross cultural. As diggs pointed out "Hugh has a point it's easier to play mary had a little lamb on the piano first time out than on a harmonica."
or Happy Birthday (the non copyrighted version) or Sakura, Sakura etc
I think Nursery Rhymes are a great learning tool in this regard. The only challenge seems to be getting over some people's view of them as childish or beneath them rather than as approaching them as pre-implanted music theory lessons that can be easily leveraged to teach basic musical concepts quickly.
I'm flattered that he pays so much attention to what I have to say, but it's a bit tiring that he usually gives a "that depends" to the content. (He is also known for pointing out to me that someone I have never heard of came to the same conclusions as I have - which proves no more than great minds think alike....).
Of course everything depends on culture, etc.
My students have been westerners and have shared the same culture as I (although I have had a few European students when I used to hang out there).
Have run into no problems with my approach due to cultural differences, but have as yet to teach someone from India, Panama, Cuba or China to see if there will be issues.
I'll keep posting and Paul will no doubt keep a critical eye on me to keep me from getting too carried away with myself. ---------- The Iceman
Last Edited by The Iceman on Mar 23, 2015 4:44 PM
"I'll keep posting and Paul will no doubt keep a critical eye on me to keep me from getting too carried away with myself."
It seems to work so far. You make some great points Larry, but you also tend to make a lot of very hand wavy statements that need clarification.
The old "That goes without saying." doesn't cut it in a global interconnected world.
Harpdude61's students are quite local so very possible to make some assumptions about their background listening habits/skills, but many people teach and learn online now so students and teachers may come from anywhere.
(He is also known for pointing out to me that someone I have never heard of came to the same conclusions as I have - which proves no more than great minds think alike....).
In defense of my techniques and not doing theory.... Sure, a little money will be nice and the class is publicity for me as well as my my band, but the main reason I'm doing it is to promote this magnificent little instrument we play. My goal first and foremost is for the student to have fun and develop a passion for the instrument, as well as a strong desire to learn and grow. I wish someone had been there to encourage me to relax, have fun, and make the harmonica sound properly. I can't imagine anything that would make a student want to dig deeper into theory, than being able to play something pretty cool, pretty darn quickly. The sooner I have you jamming to a backing track, the sooner you know how far you want to go and I promise it will be a lot more fun. I'm basing my first few classes on five things....RELAXATION, TONE, CLEAN SINGLE NOTES, RHYTHM, and playing with EMOTION. Rather than teaching theory right off the bat, why not emotion? Even the most basic riffs can be done with that blues feeling. I really wouldn't want to cloud the students mind with anything other than these basics. I can't imagine a better start. We'll learn big relaxed single notes (alphabet), then we go to short licks (words), from there to phrases (sentences), and on to complete 12 bar solos (paragraph). It might even be easier to explain what your doing AFTER you learn to do it, rather than before. I think this makes sense.
