NickT Posted December 25, 2002 Share Posted December 25, 2002 Just a quick post to say thanks for all the advice about teaching. I gave my second lesson on Saturday just gone. The kid had been practising. Wooo hoooo. Went through the major scale and arpeggios in the first week. Got him playing along to "Stir it up" by Bob Marley. (in A:1, 3, 4, 3..then in D 1, 3, 5 and finally 1, 3, 5 in E.) Explained how chords are put together. Got him to read the line, then play it with the record, come up with some variations, tried it an a couple of different keys and fingurings. Came back this week for the second lesson. As I was unpacking, tested him on a few arps and scales picked at random, he got them all in a few seconds!!!! Scales, chords and harmony are going along nicely. Got him reading chord charts and playing with a metronome, reading rhythms. Also it's really been helping tidy up my writing of notation. Only prob...I really need to drill his right hand technique. Left hand is getting better, but his sound is a little ummmm lumpy I guess due to inconsistent pressure, he's only plucking with his index finger. If I really bug him and watch him and make him use alternate finger plucking, his sound becomes much stronger, smoother and more consistent. Can anyone suggest any drills for right hand technique? Aside from that the teaching is going well. Thanks again for the advice guys and gals. Free your mind and your ass will follow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattC Posted December 25, 2002 Share Posted December 25, 2002 Some of the best technique exercises I've ever done were from a book called, well, I forget... the exercises had no melodic value; they were simply sumerical combinations of frets 1,2,3&4. Give him something that involves no thinking to play with the left habd so he can concentrate on right hand. By the way- he sounds like a bright student to pick up on all that in one weer or two, but I'd be sure to go back later and re-drill all these rudiments, especially the major scales. Make him memorize the E major scale playing with the open 4th as the root (i.e., make sure that he knows the notes in the scales in addition to the pattern of the scales.) ...think funky thoughts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davebrownbass Posted December 25, 2002 Share Posted December 25, 2002 He does sound like an exceptional student; perhaps you are an exceptional teacher. Remember in education, there is a principle: One Complexity At A Time. Isolate problems and train independently, then combine them. I frequently give students right hand exercises just playing open strings, but keeping the thumb parked to avoid ringing e and a strings, playing quarter and eighth notes with both fingers, varying from over the pickups to close to the bridge and so on. Then you can add left hand, playing scales "in 4's" and "8's" and even "16's" (cccc, dddd, eeee, ffff, gggg...) or (cccccccc, dddddddd....) This allows interaction between the hands while focusing on the right hand. "Let's raise the level of this conversation" -- Jeremy Cohen, in the Picasso Thread. Still spendin' that political capital far faster than I can earn it...stretched way out on a limb here and looking for a better interest rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattC Posted December 25, 2002 Share Posted December 25, 2002 DBB, that's a really good idea. ...think funky thoughts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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