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Old 04-22-2017, 06:40 AM
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Toby Walker Toby Walker is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pitar View Post
Yet, it is the truth.

I think the so-called teacher, who is a person who has developed himself to a certain level of achievement, possibly (hopefully) understands that same achievement has merely opened his eyes to what he doesn't know and, especially, why he lacks the knowledge he does: Self limitation through musical self-gratification. It's this latter thought that drives him less as a teacher and more as an errant student of his craft as time goes on. Ultimately, he might outwardly possess the stuff of a teacher but the rebellious student in him, the more professional persona, humbles that to a hard truth.

I think that is the way of the web-based music instrument teachers so, even though they might wax a teaching role, the best they can do is present the material the student is interested in by a demonstrative method. This method, cobbled together and labeled a lesson, really isn't unless it is fully vested in a bonafide lesson plan with the necessary accompanying material such as standard notation and theory that supports it. That's the stuff of a fully rounded musical instrument teacher. Both my sons were exposed to this kind of teacher and now they play their instruments by sight-reading scores and can cite the theory beneath it. Without knowing a foreign language both can simply sit in an ensemble, band and/or orchestra situation, pick up a score and play along to their own contentment. That is not the stuff of web-based demonstrative methods, though it could very well be developed to that level provided the demonstrator is capable of it.

Anything short of that is a demonstrative method of taking a person to a level of play that really isn't teaching them as a musical instrument teacher. They are more demonstrators than teachers, and they know it.

The flip side of this is an acceptance of a demonstrative guide, in place of a real teacher, in a new world order that disdains the arduous task of learning and welcomes the manifold abbreviated methods that better satisfy instant gratification. That is the new student/teacher combination of today and so glaringly representative of a dumbed down society on a downward spiral technology has us on. Why struggle with learning it when it can be demonstrated or otherwise go-ogled?

So, even though you have assembled much of your material and presented it as lessons, and it has been accepted as such, are we really calling that teaching or demonstrating?
As I believe your response was directly aimed at myself and my teaching methods - of which unless you’ve personally have taken lessons from me you honestly have no idea what those methods are or what kind of a teacher I am. It appears that your concept of my methods may be derived from what you may or may not have seen on the internet, which hardly is a basis for judging the effectiveness of what I do. My lessons are not, as you say, just ‘cobbled together,’ but rather have been carefully thought out and crafted over the years to present a complete picture of the music I teach.

You pose an interesting question and by your own definition, I absolutely do believe that my method is that of teaching, and not merely demonstrating, although the latter is a part of the lesson plan.

Each and every one of the students that I have personally taught and currently teach has at my request, given me a detailed description of what they have learned so far and more importantly, what their individual goals are. From that criteria I devise what you have called a ‘bonafide lesson plan.’ Of course, any teacher worth their salt will realize that the plan must be flexible as to accommodate both the students learning abilities and method of learning, along with their desire to add or change those initial goals based on the new material they are being exposed to.

Your other definition of a qualified teacher is one who presents supportive musical theory. This is something that I encourage my students to understand, as it can further illuminate the reasons as to how the music is shaped, is related to other forms of music, performed, and equally as important can be improvised upon.

One of the examples of where we part ways is in notation. As 100% of the students I teach are adults who are interested in traditional, roots based music such as blues, and how ragtime, rock, jazz, country, old-time, and even bluegrass is uniquely intertwined, sight reading isn’t at all required, and I've yet to see a guitarist of those genres perform with sheet music in front of them. Besides, most, if not all of my students have no desire to spend a few years learning how to read music in preparation to start studying these genres, nor in my opinion do they even need to. What I use is tab, and while not as comprehensive as musical notation can be, it is, along with the musical theory, quite adequate in conveying the music.

Rest assured, that while I don’t teach my students to sit in with a formal ensemble such as an orchestra, they are fully taught how to participate with others in a jam session, if of course that is one of their desired goals.

It is abundantly clear that our definitions of what a musical instructor differ. It appears your definition of a music teacher is the type that taught your sons how to sight- read standard notation, thus enabling them to sit in with any given ensemble, band, or orchestra, and understand the theory behind it all, and yes, that is one definition. Aside from the theory, my students on the other hand have no desire to do that. What they want instead is to learn how to fingerpick acoustic roots music and as I said in my previous post, I not only TEACH them how to do that, but also TEACH them the concepts behind the music, the theory, how to add ideas of their own to the music, improvise and if they want, how to perform and play with others who also enjoy that music. That, Pitar, is the difference between a teacher who just shows someone how to play a song by rote (demonstrative) and the one who teaches them how to make that song a part of their DNA.

Finally, I believe that there is room for qualified instructors in both the 'formal' camps of orchestral musicians and the 'informal' camps of musicians. As long as the method of TEACHING is complete and comprehensive, students of both studies will most certainly benefit.
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Last edited by Toby Walker; 04-22-2017 at 06:52 AM.
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