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Posts: 1156
Joined: Dec. 6 2006
From: Hamilton, ON
RE: Would you like to have Jason McG... (in reply to FredSanford)
quote:
ORIGINAL: FredSanford Flamenco guitarists however do get hired often in Mexican restaurants and that is why 75 is way too much.
quote:
I think if someone calls and wants to come into your home for 6 hours straight and in the process of asking makes the implication that they could learn all you know in 6 hours, the price should go way up. I say he's lucky he got any reply at all.
RE: Would you like to have Jason McG... (in reply to Adam)
Within two lessons, one a month with J, I was playing almost twice as fast. he explained theory in ways I could never understand from books. Now I compose many of my falsetas as well as chord progressions. I can finally pick up some stuff by ear, which I was always bad at. He can't make me play in compas, some stuff you have to do yourself. Its almost like I had mental or attitude blocks in front of me and jason kicked a hole in those walls, allowing me to reach my current potential. a good teacher is a rare thing. A sherpa who can guide you across your everest.
Ps. Fred sanford's last few comments also sound like jasons humor. Suspicious. But don't ban him. His comments are just an opinion, based on his experience with or without teachers. He's been a fine addition to the foro.
RE: Would you like to have Jason McG... (in reply to akatune)
quote:
Ps. Fred sanford's last few comments also sound like jasons humor. Suspicious. But don't ban him. His comments are just an opinion, based on his experience with or without teachers. He's been a fine addition to the foro.
Posts: 1821
Joined: Jul. 26 2009
From: The land down under
RE: Would you like to have Jason McG... (in reply to chester)
Do you find that reading a book offers similar results to playing along with a experienced flamenco guitarist who is exemplifying good rhythm, musicality and technique with his hands?
Lets have a look at this video.
Notice the way this young guy has picked up on Jasons style and technique. Notice the familiarity of the falseta style and similar timing and dynamics to Jasons strums. They are the results of spending time with him.
Of coarse Jason's style is just one of many and i am sure this young guy will eventually look to find his own way. Im curios to know what the results would be if he had simply read some books?
Obtaining a live mental picture of a guitarist that you aspire to play like is very cool. I paid a lot for some of the classes i had with famous flamencos. The mental pictures of how they were playing, how their guitars responded, and what i liked about it still remain with me years later. It is something i reflect upon for guidance and inspiration. And that is on top of what they actually taught me.
When learning to play flamenco guitar, having a great guitarist spending time with, and playing for you live in a one on one situation, offers far more than any book, recording or concert IMO.
I believe your book makes a great addition to lessons, but i don't see books as an equal substitute. Not when it comes to learning how to play flamenco guitar.
RE: Would you like to have Jason McG... (in reply to KMMI77)
quote:
When learning to play flamenco guitar, having a great guitarist spending time with, and playing for you live in a one on one situation, offers far more than any book, recording or concert IMO.
I believe your book makes a great addition to lessons, but i don't see books as an equal substitute. Not when it comes to learning how to play flamenco guitar.
agree totally...even with all the correct notes there's still a million ways one could do something the wrong way out of a book...finger positioning and angle of impact etc...its very hard to get the correct ones out of a book....even with photos...u don't get that constant live feedback and tweaking
a book, cd , concert... shows you where you would like to go, might or might not get there.... a live teacher teaches you the exact steps to take and how to get there and even takes you there...there's certain techniques that you just cant pick up from a book
Posts: 15242
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: Would you like to have Jason McG... (in reply to FredSanford)
quote:
Cellists need 110 an hour to teach because the Mexican restaurants never hire cellists.
Even this guy??
quote:
Notice the way this young guy has picked up on Jasons style and technique. Notice the familiarity of the falseta style and similar timing and dynamics to Jasons strums. They are the results of spending time with him.
RE: Would you like to have Jason McG... (in reply to KMMI77)
quote:
ORIGINAL: KMMI77
Do you find that reading a book offers similar results to playing along with a experienced flamenco guitarist who is exemplifying good rhythm, musicality and technique with his hands?
Lets have a look at this video.
Notice the way this young guy has picked up on Jasons style and technique. Notice the familiarity of the falseta style and similar timing and dynamics to Jasons strums. They are the results of spending time with him.
Of coarse Jason's style is just one of many and i am sure this young guy will eventually look to find his own way. Im curios to know what the results would be if he had simply read some books?
Obtaining a live mental picture of a guitarist that you aspire to play like is very cool. I paid a lot for some of the classes i had with famous flamencos. The mental pictures of how they were playing, how their guitars responded, and what i liked about it still remain with me years later. It is something i reflect upon for guidance and inspiration. And that is on top of what they actually taught me.
When learning to play flamenco guitar, having a great guitarist spending time with, and playing for you live in a one on one situation, offers far more than any book, recording or concert IMO.
I believe your book makes a great addition to lessons, but i don't see books as an equal substitute. Not when it comes to learning how to play flamenco guitar.
To be honest I'm in total agreement with you, I was just providing kindling for the fire here. I've never read that book, just linked to it coz I found the cover photo funny.
$75 is relatively cheap for someone in Jason's level. Like I've said here before - he's more than just a flamenco guitarist.
Posts: 271
Joined: Sep. 19 2011
From: Louisville KY
RE: Would you like to have Jason McG... (in reply to Adam)
Alright... You guys have changed my mind... I will sell my house and all belongings and put the money into taking lessons from Jason. Then I can play flamenco on the streets like a true gipsy, or if I'm lucky, in an eatery that don't mind homeless people.
Reading and comprehension aren't strong points for some people... As I have stated more than once, the man can charge what ever he wants... That's not my business or problem...
A few other points: If it costs you $5000 to take a trip to Spain, you must be taking a long trip or living high on the hog while your there, or you don't do any comparison shopping. I just bought a ticket and made hotel reservations for a trip in May, and my flight was only $600... I will get back home spending a lot less than $5000 unless I go guitar shopping... In addition to that even if a trip to Spain did cost me $5000, 18 hours of lessons from Jason would have cost me $1350, plus the flight and motel. So when you do the math I would have spent more than a third of the price on a trip to CA than I would a $5000 trip to Spain...
Point 2 for MR. Sanford is, I never thought I could pick up all of what Jason knows in 6 hours per day. It seems a little childish for you to try to imagine what the tone of my email to Jason was, because after all, I have already stated that I will never be the guitarist Jason is. That's where the reading and comprehension part comes in. Either you didn't read my message or have selective memory about what I wrote. Or perhaps your just trying to stir me up a little. Either way is cool. I just want to state one more time that I'll never be what Jason is, and I respect his abilities. Or maybe I should say your abilities...
Maybe his messages were sent from an iPhone or iPad, and that's why they were so short, I don't truthfully know. Maybe that's just the way he is, right to the point with little communication. If that theory is correct all I can say is that it may not be the best way to interact with people if you do want to get paid from them for teaching. Seeing that Jason stopped giving lessons supposedly, it makes no difference. Also being that he is quite busy with many other things I'm sure that he didn't need my money or business to get by.
Point 3 is that I understand how musicians get paid, after all, that's what I do for a living. To compare it to employees who have benefits paid for them by a company is not quite fare. Even throughout my time when I was a strong member of the AFM, we never got the kind of benefits that 9 to 5 people get. Its a choice you make... If my wife wasn't employed with a large corporation with good health benefits, I probably would have had to think of getting out of the music business. Trust me, being a musician is a lot different when you count on it for a living than when you are doing it as a hobby, and doing it for a living takes a lot of fun out of it.
Lastly, learning flamenco person to person is the only way to go. Lots of people including myself don't have the opportunity to study with a great flamenco guitarist, and it makes a big difference when you can. Lesson videos are great, but you'll only get so much mileage out of them. Its almost a given that what small bad habits you have won't be covered in the video, because the video can't cover every possible way to play or not play something. After all, this is why I wanted to take the trip up to get lessons from Jason.
Now that I have foolishly wasted more of my time on this useless subject, I think I'll go do something productive like play the guitar... Someone can pick apart my words and entangle them in some way which will serve their purpose. After all, they probably don't have anything else to do. That's the big problem about these online discussions.
RE: Would you like to have Jason McG... (in reply to El Kiko)
What does any of this have to do with charging $75 per hour for lessons or "being arrogant"? The market dictates the price, and if there are people willing to pay, the price will stay constant or even increase.
As for the use of the word "arrogant", I think it's a great way to engage in character assassination. It's usually used by people who harbor intense jealousy toward another -- whether openly or not -- or by those who are easily susceptible to outside pressure. I took a lesson from Jason and he is ANYTHING but arrogant. It pisses me off that anybody would even entertain that idea. Carrying oneself proudly isn't arrogance. In my opinion, if you're any good, you deserve to make it known. If somebody doesn't like that approach... too bad.
I ran into the whole "arrogant" ordeal myself, which was actually a huge hit to my self-esteem and performance endeavors. I stopped playing in public for a little while and went "off the scene"... until I realized that I was giving way to people who just wanted more of the performance pie. Now, my mentality can be summarized by the following phrase: "f*** it". I speak my mind, usually with detrimental consequences, but I frankly don't give a rip anymore. I for one value the freedom to express myself, even if it means that a particular group of guitarists will be seething with rage. If that's how they want to react, cool. Not my problem! :)
Posts: 1821
Joined: Jul. 26 2009
From: The land down under
RE: Would you like to have Jason McG... (in reply to chester)
quote:
To be honest I'm in total agreement with you, I was just providing kindling for the fire here. I've never read that book, just linked to it coz I found the cover photo funny.
I think you succeeded, at least partly in your goal. You got me to ramble on about obvious stuff. That would have infuriated a few readers
RE: Would you like to have Jason McG... (in reply to Adam)
quote:
What does any of this have to do with charging $75 per hour for lessons or "being arrogant"? The market dictates the price, and if there are people willing to pay, the price will stay constant or even increase.
So true.. especially with the level of the teacher.. check out this guitarist and tell me what do you think about his price per hour?
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