| Subject: | Re: [RESOGUIT-L] Giving Lessons | | Date: | Thursday, March 15, 2007 07:25:18 (-0700) | | From: | Tom Foote <footet @.........edu>
|
The motto of the Medical Profession applies here...
Primum Non Nocere! this translates from the Latin to
==> Above All, Do No Harm! <==
I have a good friend who gives lessons on all the Bluegrass
instruments except
reso. He's been asked a few times by absolute beginners to teach
them how to
play reso. The problem is, he doesn't play reso and thinks that
the banjo is
close enough.. and besides, he knows more than they do. I
advised him NOT
to try and teach reso, because correct technique is more
important on reso than on most of
the other instruments. Now, before that ignites a firestorm of
protest from all
you players of other instruments, let me just say that has been
MY experience.
I started fooling with an old Dobro years ago when there wasn't
anyone to show
me anything. I started on banjo that same way. I never took a
banjo lesson
but figured it out by playing along with Earl and J.D... I wore
out their records.
it worked on banjo, but banjo is a lot more monotonous and easier
to play
than reso.. at least that's been my experience after 35+ years
playing banjo
ten of which were in a Bluegrass band. On the other hand, my
experience
with reso is different. It's been a series of making my own
mistakes and then
trying to fix them later.. failing at that, and then taking a
lesson from those
who know.. vis a vis, Mike Auldridge and Orville Johnson....and
workshops
w/ Jimmy Heffernan, Randy Kohrs and Rob Ickes. My double lesson
with Mike was 3 or so years ago and I wish I had done it 30 years
earlier..
no excuse for me since I've known him since the late 60s! I was
busy
trying to play banjo all those years.. sigh-h-hh.. Mike
spotted my
problems immediately... incorrect hand position, bad muting
technique,
lack of scale knowledge (still persists, but I'm working on it)
incorrect
grip on holding the bar.. all translated to sloppy, noisy
technique.
a side story...
in 1961 I was a recent graduate of the University of Tulsa and
writing sports
for the Tulsa Tribune. They sent me to cover the Women's Oklahoma
Amateur golf Tournament. We played the back 9 with the club pro
and
I hit a terrific 3 iron shot. He said, "that was your comeback
shot. Go home
DON'T hit any golf balls, DON'T play golf.. save $250 and come
back here
and I'll teach you to play golf. If you go home and play golf
and hit golf balls
==>it's going to cost you $5,000.00 for me to straighten out
your bad habits!" <==
I took him at his word and have not hit another golf ball since
summer
of 1961.
The point is, a good teacher.. someone who knows what (s)he's
doing...
is worth the investment of paying for lessons.. that will save
you from
back pedaling and wasting time trying to explain why you do what
you
do which is keeping you from doing what everyone who's accomplished
is doing. And, I also think it's good practice to practice more
than you
think you need to and continue to take an occasional lesson when
you
get to a particular technique.. ie., the famous Jerry hammer/
pull off
sequence (which I still don't execute as well as I should), but,
hey,
I'm going to live forever, so there's plenty of time, right? ..
not. Get out
there and take those lessons... buy those instructional DVDs...
spend the money--- and you lesson givers..
Primum Non Nocere!
excerpted from A Conehead's Prayer, after he heard Mike
say apologetically, "I'm down to playing 5 - 6 hours a day."
sigh-h-hhh
On Mar 14, 2007, at 5:18 PM, Mark Garton wrote:
> Hello All,
>
> I have been asked by a couple folks to give lessons. As far as I
> know there isn't really anyone in the area that gives lessons on a
> regular basis and I feel obligated to pass along what little I
> know. So I need some guidance. What are the essentials that I
> should cover? Here is what I was thinking:
>
> Bar technique: Hammer on/Pull off's, How to hold bar/damp strings,
> tilting bar to play single strings
> Left hand Technique: rolls, tone (no scratching, keeping picks
> perpendicular to strings)
>
> Then cover damping/pick blocking and slants as he/she progresses.
>
> I advocate practicing scales to learn the fret board.
>
> Repertoire is some what of a question. I don't have traditional
> bluegrass repertoire since I was a flatpicker and ported over a lot
> of fiddle tunes. I figured I would start with tunes like Cripple
> Creek, Fireball Mail, and Home Sweet Home.
>
> Any advice would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> Mark
> Springfield, Mo
>
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