Anyone teach or know of a tinwhistle teacher in northern California or southern Oregon? So far, I'm self-taught, but having taken 2 1/2 hours of whistle classes a day at Swannanoa last week, I realize the value of a good teacher.
Swannanoa was a great experience, by the way. The teachers, the music, the location, were outstanding, and the atmosphere was very friendly and a lot of fun.
Sorry, I'm on the wrong coast, but thought I'd pop in rather than have your post go entirely unanswered, so you know at least that people are listening.
You seem the fully self motivated type. Keep working on what you learned at Swannanoa, you may find you have enough material there that it will take you some months to absorb it fully without any need of further immediate instruction.
One of the great revelations I had as a teacher was that, for most people, my job is only about 10% teaching technique. The other 90% is offering cheerleading and encouragement. Without a constant flow of pats on the head and an occasional "Good Doggie" they just drift away. It's not that they don't actually want to learn to play, and I won't teach people who are under duress (as some children are), it's that learning is not what motivates them. They're beta dogs. Happiest when getting where they want to go by having a leader. I give them a practice assignement and they do it. Then they happily come back for the next assignment.
Then there are those few who I give an assignment and they come back and say, "Ok, I did that, then I went on and finished the book, learned these three songs from tab off the internet, wrote these three tunes. . .and a cantata. What's next?"
Sometimes what's next is *me* asking, "Hey, how did you do that thing there? Show me."
And then feeling embaressed about taking their money.
If I were a betting man I'd bet that a Swannanoa a few times a year would see you learning faster than most people do with weekly private lessons.
A good tinwhistle teacher?
A good tinwhistle teacher?
Anyone teach or know of a tinwhistle teacher in northern California or southern Oregon? So far, I'm self-taught, but having taken 2 1/2 hours of whistle classes a day at Swannanoa last week, I realize the value of a good teacher.
Swannanoa was a great experience, by the way. The teachers, the music, the location, were outstanding, and the atmosphere was very friendly and a lot of fun.
Marilyn
# Posted on July 19th 2005 by mjct
Re: A good tinwhistle teacher?
Sorry, I'm on the wrong coast, but thought I'd pop in rather than have your post go entirely unanswered, so you know at least that people are listening.
You seem the fully self motivated type. Keep working on what you learned at Swannanoa, you may find you have enough material there that it will take you some months to absorb it fully without any need of further immediate instruction.
One of the great revelations I had as a teacher was that, for most people, my job is only about 10% teaching technique. The other 90% is offering cheerleading and encouragement. Without a constant flow of pats on the head and an occasional "Good Doggie" they just drift away. It's not that they don't actually want to learn to play, and I won't teach people who are under duress (as some children are), it's that learning is not what motivates them. They're beta dogs. Happiest when getting where they want to go by having a leader. I give them a practice assignement and they do it. Then they happily come back for the next assignment.
Then there are those few who I give an assignment and they come back and say, "Ok, I did that, then I went on and finished the book, learned these three songs from tab off the internet, wrote these three tunes. . .and a cantata. What's next?"
Sometimes what's next is *me* asking, "Hey, how did you do that thing there? Show me."
And then feeling embaressed about taking their money.
If I were a betting man I'd bet that a Swannanoa a few times a year would see you learning faster than most people do with weekly private lessons.
KFG
# Posted on July 21st 2005 by KFG
Re: A good tinwhistle teacher?
Hmmm, I hadn't thought about it that way, but you're probably right . Thanks for your response.
# Posted on July 22nd 2005 by mjct