Re: Fingering Exercises
Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:38 pm
Rande -
It's not strange at all to me to be "surrounded". I'm ecstatic to be around my "own kind" - people who love the guitar and fingerstyle playing.
I always remind myself that the "Great Quartet" of Merle, Chet, Jerry, and Tommy were not formally trained, yet were, and are, phenomenal musicians. Many musicians such as Tal Farlow, Wes Montgomery, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, & others never spent a day in class. I myself was self-taught until attending MTSU at the age of 39. As a kid, I actually taught myself to read music - bought the Mel Bay books and went to town on them. Also, everything taught in college is first learned "in the field", usually by an "untrained" musician.
When I first sit down with a student, I usually ask them a question like this: If I gave you a computer how would you learn to use it? 1) Play with it until you figure it out. 2) Read the book. 3) A combination of the two. How they answer this question tells me how the student processes information. So, some students I'll teach how to read notes or tab, some I'll teach by ear, and some will be a combination of the two. By doing this, I can tailor my lessons to fit the student in order to get the most benefit from the experience.
I learn songs in many ways - by notes, by transcribing it from the recording, or as Tommy Emmanuel once said, pester a person until they show me the lick or song.
So, no, this doesn't feel strange to me at all - I feel right at home.
Randy
It's not strange at all to me to be "surrounded". I'm ecstatic to be around my "own kind" - people who love the guitar and fingerstyle playing.
I always remind myself that the "Great Quartet" of Merle, Chet, Jerry, and Tommy were not formally trained, yet were, and are, phenomenal musicians. Many musicians such as Tal Farlow, Wes Montgomery, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, & others never spent a day in class. I myself was self-taught until attending MTSU at the age of 39. As a kid, I actually taught myself to read music - bought the Mel Bay books and went to town on them. Also, everything taught in college is first learned "in the field", usually by an "untrained" musician.
When I first sit down with a student, I usually ask them a question like this: If I gave you a computer how would you learn to use it? 1) Play with it until you figure it out. 2) Read the book. 3) A combination of the two. How they answer this question tells me how the student processes information. So, some students I'll teach how to read notes or tab, some I'll teach by ear, and some will be a combination of the two. By doing this, I can tailor my lessons to fit the student in order to get the most benefit from the experience.
I learn songs in many ways - by notes, by transcribing it from the recording, or as Tommy Emmanuel once said, pester a person until they show me the lick or song.
So, no, this doesn't feel strange to me at all - I feel right at home.
Randy