Country Blues > Performance Corner

Country Blues Instruction Market?

<< < (2/2)

2handband:
Thanks for the reply, Tom. The biggest limiting factor I've seen in most of the instructional material that I have tried to use for my students is that it's not progressive enough; it simply goes too fast and the jumps from one concept to the next are too large. Certainly at the beginner level; it seems to me that they try to rush through the basics in order to get to some more interesting arrangements, which is why I get the impression that these guys are operating under the assumption that most of their students already play the guitar. Also I think there is too much emphasis on playing arrangements of tunes and not enough on how the arrangements are constructed, which limits a students ability to create his or her own arrangements. I believe in slowly and carefully building a solid technical foundation while at the same time providing a thorough understanding of the theoretical construction of the music.

a2tom:
In general I'd say "right on".? I'd be curious what others think, but alas these don't always seem to be the most popular ideas.?

"Slowly building a solid technical foundation" tends to scare many people (= work).? I have for one been generally lousy about skill development!? I have heard Stefan Grossman indicate that his approach is to not teach technique directly, but to teach tunes and let skill development come "naturally" with that.? I have little doubt that a more methodical approach would be beneficial, you've just got to convince people to do it!? I think that is a lot easier to do when you are giving weekly lessons in person, probably hard to do when you're selling a video.

"Create his or her own rearrangements" is a topic near and dear to me. Its my favorite thing to do, but I have found that most other people are geared toward learning the great tunes (and arrangements) of old.? This may in part be the group at Weenie Campbell, which obviously has an emphasis on the old music (why I like hanging out here - that may seem paradoxical, but its not).? ?But in the country blues all around I have found the consumer audicence to be less geared toward creating their own.

As for theory, take a poke around the forum and you'll find a definite discrepancy between the V7 crowd and the I just play it where it sounds right crowd.? On the whole, though, I suspect it is true that most CB hobbiests are theory deficient (myself included).? Once again = work.

These are just musings, I'm not trying to talk you out of anything, and I'd love to have people disagree with me.? In truth, I think it sounds like you probably have a lot to offer, but if you build it, will they come?

Oh, one last thing - like John M's materials, teaching that doesn't rely on tab is great.? Too many people get too attached to tab, I think.

tom

jed:
Welcome, Gene.  Have you looked at some of the videos out there?  The ones I've seen typically explain in the first minute exactly what experience is (or isn't) necessary in order to get the real value out of it.  As I think about it, Woody Mann is one who spends some time on showing how certain kinds of phrases can fit into personal arrangments - but not for beginners.

I imagine you've already figured out how to hold students' interest through the theoretical woods and practice-practiice-practice necessities.  So  you've already got the content down; the only hump, then, is marketing - and timing.  If your approach is unique and valid, all it takes is The Plan.  Feel free to message me offline if you want to talk about the production end (I've done some stuff there - in music, but not in the CB realm).

Cheers,
Jed

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page