| Subject: | Re: [RESOGUIT-L] Giving Lessons | | Date: | Thursday, March 15, 2007 15:16:44 (+0000) | | From: | reso-man <reso-man @.......net>
|
WELL SAID MR. TOM FOOTE SIR!!!!!
Do no harm!!!!
I've also been asked to teach. I don't consider myself "qualified" to teach!
I've still way too far down on the "learning curve" myself.
Tom, that's a great post, and I thank you for sharing your thoughts with the
list. (I enjoyed the banjo = boring part, *wowza*, but I'll not comment further
on that, as I'm still actively involved playing bluegrass, etc. etc.) Ya'll know
I'ma chicken......right?
I've also heard St. Mike comment on his practice scheduel, and I've seen a
comment somewhere, probably on Mike's web-site, that was probably originally
voiced by the great Steel Guitar Teacher, Jeff Newman, (God rest his soul), that
basically states "you get out of an instrument, what you put INTO it." These
amazing musicians that we all admire, they've learned what they know,
*one*note*at*a*time*, the same as the rest of us do! They don't "get hit by
lightning" in the middle of the night and wake up playing exactly like Josh, or
Rob, or Oz, or Mike. Of course you wouldn't want to duplicate these masters of
our instrument anyways, cause they've already "done what they do".....so we're
all aspiring to BETTER these masters, right? Sure we are!
I agree with Tom one thousand percent! TAKE LESSONS from a good, qualified,
teacher. Correct bad habits BEFORE they become "routine". This's experience
talkin' folks. I'd been playing over 50 yrs. BEFORE I took my first Heffernan
Workshop and it became immediately obvious that, whew, do I ever have "bad
habits". But at least they've been pointed out to me, and I've corrected some, and I'm
working to correct others. At least I'm *aware* of them!!! I think being aware
of, and working to correct faults, is a huge step towards playing better.
And practice, practice, and practice! St. Mike pointed out the importance of
proper practice. Don't waste valuable practice time "doodling". That's not
learning. Try and play exactly as you would like to sound. Start slow and
gradually increase tempo, etc. All the current video courses on the market are
wonderful, but there's no substitute for a lesson from a good teacher.
Richie
-------------- Original message --------------
From: Tom Foote <footet@evergreen.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
>
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