Guitar lessons for music interpretation?

[Doug Young]

I think we've tried this sort of thing before - I agree, it'd be great to have a group of people you could get honest critical feedback from, but it hasn't worked out in the past, and in general is hard to do in a public way, and with a diverse set of people with different tastes and playing levels. I have people I know who I generally ask for feedback privately on things (is this mix right? Is this performance good enough to share or do I go back to the drawing board?), but that works better offline, where people are freer to say "that isn't working". It does happen here in some cases, tho - Barry, you're getting constructive feedback on your recording efforts, right? (I hope it's useful). There is a thread with some constructive feedback for J-Doug going on right now.

I don't think this substitutes for what you might get from a good teacher 1-1, tho, and what I think you're looking for. It'd be like asking people online what you should do for exercise vs being at the gym with a personal trainer, checking your form, evaluating what you are able to do and watching your progress.

Is there a reason you have to wait to retire? There are lots of approaches that don't have to be time consuming. There's weekly lessons, but there are also just 1-off sessions with someone. You could go to a guitar camp, sign up for a master-class with someone, or just see if you can do a 1-time lesson with someone. I don't think Tommy Emanuel has time to do lessons, but other than him, almost any player you can think of is probably willing to do a 1-time session either in person or by skype, so you could get some tips from anyone you think might give you what you want, and it wouldn't need to be a big time sink or long term commitment.

[rick-slo]

I am happy to critically evaluate anytime, and for free.

[Big Band Guitar]

Build your skills first the rest will come later.

After all you don't paint the house until after you built it.

[TBman]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

I am happy to critically evaluate anytime, and for free.

Thanks Rick.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by TBman

Is there such a thing? Not the "put your finger there" then "do this" kind of lessons, but how to play what is there better, timing issues, notation interpretation, etc.

Hi Barry

At the 2005 Healdsburg Guitar Gathering (In Santa Rosa, CA) Muriel Anderson offered a workshop titled "Putting Your Heart In Your Hands" and it was in such demand they had to hold it twice.

She talked about and demonstrated techniques which were about going beyond the sterility of just playing-the-right-notes-at-the-right-time.

Dynamics, rubato, pauses, etc were all involved in the discussion. But it went beyond just altering techniques. It was about playing with feeling (fast or slow music).

It's hard to put into words in a forum what she covered in 90 minutes. But it sure helped me to begin thinking beyond the notes with some direction.

I began to watch closely the people who moved me when I heard them (or watched them) play. Muriel Anderson, & Ed Gerhard were two who affected my styling in that regard.

Look forward to some discussions on the aforementioned topics.

[Howard Emerson]

Originally Posted by TBman

Yes, along those lines.

Barry,
Yes, I’ve provided that exact sort (oxymoron intended) of thing as long as I’ve been teaching.

It’s often the only way that players can get feedback on stuff they’re too close to, or stuck on.

HE

[TBman]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

I think we've tried this sort of thing before - I agree, it'd be great to have a group of people you could get honest critical feedback from, but it hasn't worked out in the past, and in general is hard to do in a public way, and with a diverse set of people with different tastes and playing levels. I have people I know who I generally ask for feedback privately on things (is this mix right? Is this performance good enough to share or do I go back to the drawing board?), but that works better offline, where people are freer to say "that isn't working". It does happen here in some cases, tho - Barry, you're getting constructive feedback on your recording efforts, right? (I hope it's useful). There is a thread with some constructive feedback for J-Doug going on right now.

I don't think this substitutes for what you might get from a good teacher 1-1, tho, and what I think you're looking for. It'd be like asking people online what you should do for exercise vs being at the gym with a personal trainer, checking your form, evaluating what you are able to do and watching your progress.

Is there a reason you have to wait to retire? There are lots of approaches that don't have to be time consuming. There's weekly lessons, but there are also just 1-off sessions with someone. You could go to a guitar camp, sign up for a master-class with someone, or just see if you can do a 1-time lesson with someone. I don't think Tommy Emanuel has time to do lessons, but other than him, almost any player you can think of is probably willing to do a 1-time session either in person or by skype, so you could get some tips from anyone you think might give you what you want, and it wouldn't need to be a big time sink or long term commitment.

Doug,

Yes, I'm getting great help with the recording issues, thank you. Once I can get in the ballpark of that recording "warmth" tone, I'll be able to focus more on my playing. There's a lot more detail that can be addressed there, but being able to capture and present it the way I want would be rewarding too.


For the lessons I'd rather wait until I retire because I'll have nothing but free time and wife time which will be easier for me to manage.

I think for the slower paced pieces that I enjoy playing I should be able to play them at a level that is representative of my time playing guitars. As I pointed out in another thread I was totally omitting the arpeggios in The Parting Glass which was a glaring error that I didn't catch until now. So that would be the sort of help I would be seeking. Just some critical commentary on lack of technique and lapses in accuracy of notation interpretation and timing issues as applicable.

[Wyllys]

Originally Posted by TBman

For the lessons I'd rather wait until I retire because I'll have nothing but free time and wife time which will be easier for me to manage.

Ha ha ha ha HA! Good one!

Sorry, but this is just not the case. VOE

[jseth]

Learn about basic Diatonic Chord Theory, before you retire and start your lessons... I haven't seen a copy of "The Dummies Guide...", but it shouldn't be too difficult to find a place to learn this stuff. I learned from a (then) recent 6th level graduate of the Berklee College of Music, back in the 70's. I imagine that Berklee has some sort of on-line thing for this by now...

Learning Diatonic Chord Theory (even the beginning stages) will give you a LOT of freedom in your arrangements and interpretations of others' tunes... you'll easily see and hear what would fill certain areas of songs to your liking. Makes it a lot easier to experiment when you have a "road map" to guide you a bit!

The trouble with critiques comes in when you start doing some ... "interesting" things with a piece of music, and doing them purposefully... and then, instead of trusting yourself, you lean on the opinions of other folks (however well meaning) for validation of your idea (s). (I'm not talking about losing tempo or sloppy playing; that's pretty basic stuff... again, unless you WANT to lose tempo or be sloppy ON PURPOSE!)

Good to see/hear you take these steps... it's the way to make music that you play YOUR OWN...