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Ricardo -> RE: Good beginner pieces (Mar. 8 2017 5:01:07)
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quote:
But this is just at the very top end of a wide spectrum of ability and ambition. What concerns me is the help available for most lovers of flamenco guitar who (like me) are not going to be great players and will have little opportunity to play for dancers or singers. They can still find enormous pleasure and fulfilment in going as far as they can – and they deserve encouragement rather than be given unrealistic targets.
That is a quite fair assumption. I would put forth that EVERYONE is learning with only their own point of view as a reference, and therefore limited as to how far they might go. Many rest on their laurels rather than re examin where they are at, nor seek out challenges after certain plateaus are reached. But it reminds me of a student I had a long time ago. He was in his 80's, a total beginner, and had already quit his first teacher that he described as "a drill instructor". In my heart I thought the "drill instructor" was probably trying to instill legit compas skills, but this poor guy was coming near the end and just wanted to enjoy his life and his guitar. I told him it was no problem, and began showing him stuff that he thought sounded good, anything he wanted to try really. Metronome was a no go, but he was just having a blast making his guitar sound pretty. Poor guy would take minutes to change two chords with his stiff vice grip fingers, but it didn't matter, he was having a swell time, and writing everything in his little tab notebook. He really loved the lessons and continued for about year, always a big smile on his face when he left class.
He attended a spanish festival I told him I was performing at. Some people he met there invited him to come play for their dance class, and he took it upon himself to go do this on his own, never asked me about it. Now I don't know who it was, but the mediocre wannabe guitar student they had playing for the class took one look at the old man struggling to change two chords and told him to put his guitar away, he wasn't even beginner level yet and that he had NO compas. He came to his next class with me and told me this story and said he wanted to focus on compas from now on. I was so pissed at who ever that was, but now stuck in this awkward position. I pulled out the metronome reluctantly, and showed him how to move chords in time and keep the groove, super super slow of course. Drill sergeant style that he hated like his first teacher had probobaly tried. He tried to change between two chords for a minute or two, then his face changed, realizing what was gonna be involved and he looked so depressed and disturbed. He never came for another class and I never saw him again. This type of thing really breaks my heart....but I will never let it happen again. We all need to be honest about what is going on with level and learning, and I would be lying if said method books are perfectly fine. They are simply not fine, at least none I have seen. If you want to delude yourself go right ahead, but know you will one day pay for it. There is a method to all the madness and it doesn't discriminate life goals or cator to preconceptions.
Ricardo
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