sudeep Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 Hey all, hows it going? In one discussion thread, cant remember which one exactly...a few posters talked about how they go about teaching jazz to their students. I have been looking for a good teacher for ages. I really am struggling to find a good systematic teacher who puts in effort in to the lessons. I even resorted to asking pianists at jazz gigs if they taught and often they said they did. I am 30 and while i probably lack the talent...i do have clear goals of what i want to learn and how i want to achieve it. I find getting lessons with these awesome players...i will learn a lick here and voicing there...but apart from that id just end up watching them play. I had one teacher who would rock up stoned...and she knew i knew it!! I ideally id like to say...look here is the Jazz Piano Book...i wanna know everything in this book by the time i am 60 and retired (i am in no rush)... how do i assess a good teacher? How can i tell an awesome jazz musician HOW to teach me...when i am essentially CRAP compared to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alby Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 Hi Sudeep, I can recommend Mat Thompson. I did the Jazz Piano Trio course last year at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He ran the course. He is a relatively young guy (30+), but really understands Jazz deeply and is a great teacher. He also give private lessons. I will PM his mobile number to you. Regards alby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Horne Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 It might be asking a little to much for you to assess whether or not a teacher is good. A good rule of thumb - if the teacher performs regularly and is affiliated with a college, the chances that he or she plays 'incorrectly' is slim. A teacher can have a great mind, but if he or she has bad playing habits, they may not be able to teach you to correctly approach the piano. I mention this because I had a teacher in high school and another in college who never corrected my bad habits. It took a concert pianist when I was 28 to show me the correct way to play the piano - with the least amount of effort. The teacher mentioned in this thread sounds like a good candidate. Report back after your first lesson and tell us how it went. No guitarists were harmed during the making of this message. In general, harmonic complexity is inversely proportional to the ratio between chording and non-chording instruments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marino Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 Teaching jazz is not easy. Even moreso than in classical music, a good player doesn't make a good teacher. A good teacher is one who knows several ways to go from point A to point B - then he *listens* to the student's needs, and gives good advice on the best way to get there. This involves a strong teaching attitude and years of experience. In my early years, I found quite difficult to find good jazz teachers, even among the best jazz pianists in my country. It was only when I met people like Mike Melillo (of the Phil Woods quartet) that I started to realize what good jazz teaching is. By that time, I was already playing professionally - but I got there mostly by trial and error. A good, systematic teacher would have spared me a lot of time. My advice: Once you've found a teacher, have a frank talk with him/her about your goals, how to get there, how much time you can dedicate to your studies, etc. Then, follow his instructions carefully for a couple of months at least. That should be enough time to give you an idea if you like to work that way, if he's flexible enough to adapt to your needs, etc. Finding a good teacher is maybe the the most important thing in your music life, so proceed with care. Carlo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Loving Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 You might start at a university. We're lucky where I live, the University of North Texas isn't far off, so if you need some help you've run out of excuses right away. The advice to seek out instruction in Sidney is sound. Years ago I found getting information from real good players to be difficult. Kind of like the good cook that gives away receipes with a missing ingredient. Start looking where the players interested in teaching may be found. Good luck! "Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dementia13 Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 I am 30 and while i probably lack the talent.. Talent is overrated. Seriously. Talent without hard work is nothing. And, since you have to work hard to be any good, how can you decide early on whether or not you have any talent? Everybody sucks at first. Don't believe that there are guys who just pick up an instrument, start playing, and it's natural. That makes a good movie, but it's no more real than Terminator. My suspicion is that, if you have enough appreciation to want to play jazz, and you have an idea of where you want to go, you probably do have a lot of undeveloped talent. Don't get intimidated, just take things one at a time and do what you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudeep Posted July 31, 2003 Author Share Posted July 31, 2003 Originally posted by alby: Hi Sudeep, I can recommend Mat Thompson. I did the Jazz Piano Trio course last year at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He ran the course. He is a relatively young guy (30+), but really understands Jazz deeply and is a great teacher. He also give private lessons. I will PM his mobile number to you. Regards alby.thanks for that Alby. I will try calling him today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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