OAIM

The Ultimate On-Line Whistle Community. If you find one more ultimater, let us know.
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cunparis
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Re: OAIM

Post by cunparis »

squidgirl wrote:OAIM costs $20 (er... $19.95) for me here in Oregon, USA,..

But I can't tell whether it's our lousy DSL connection, or whether my video stream is just having a hard time making its way here from Ireland in a timely way. I have to pre-load the videos then watch them after they load, rather than having them stream the way they should.
This is what I suspected, they're charging me more because I'm in France. I guess for VAT or something.

I have to pre-load the free videos too.
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maki
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Re: OAIM

Post by maki »

squidgirl wrote: I ended up signing up for OAIM... and then immediately ended up acquiring another competing time commitment (ain't that just how life goes).
Did you get another instrument? A Flute, concertina, ITM tuba?
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Re: OAIM

Post by squidgirl »

A friend has offered to help me with voice training. I do other musical stuff besides tin whistle (mostly piano, plus some theory/analysis stuff to exercise my mathy brain), and lately I've been working to bring my aural skills up to par. An awful lot of people I've discussed this with seem to agree that sight singing is a big help with aural skills, and I definitely need all the help I can get (I have a notoriously awful singing voice, and a correspondingly iffy ear :P ). So I want to seize this opportunity while I can.
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Ted
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Re: OAIM

Post by Ted »

I think you will find voice training to be particularly helpful in developing a musical "ear". The aim is to develop your ear, not the quality of your singing voice. I have had more than one student who were absolute musical beginners want to learn whistle. I have directed them to voice training as a way to introduce music and put it in their inner hearing (brain). Three did so and it helped ear training immeasurably. Another one dropped out altogether. The three all made much quicker progress as they could hear the intervals in their head and were able to internalize the sound they wanted to produce. Once their fingers learned to respond to the music in their heads they made rapid progress with the whistle. They all credited the voice training to put them well down the road to hearing the music in their heads. None of the three opted to learn to read sheet music and all three became proficient players.
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Re: OAIM

Post by Infernaltootler »

They charge in 19.95 in EUROs per month

that's 25.95 US Dollars

I'd check the currency you are paying in if you are paying a lot more than you think you should.

Also I've found their customer service to be exemplary so if you have an issue, contact them direct.

I feel they give great value for money. I have learnt fantastic techniques I don't see talked about and that have changed my sound for the better. I've learnt some great tunes from all the different instruments - you get access to all of them in the same price, even ITM Tuba (well probably be a course in it soon). The people seem very pro active with lots more things added all the time. They have people like Tola Custy on fiddle and Kevin Crawford on flute but the other tutors are all excellent too.

Like others here my problem is getting face time with the courses as my kids occupy the PC, however I sometimes get a go on the iPad.

A real teacher woudl be best of course, but I think this has been fantastic for me as an intermediate player looking to develop a character to my playing.

All the best.
Finally feel like I'm getting somewhere. It's only taken 6 years.
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cunparis
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Re: OAIM

Post by cunparis »

Infernaltootler wrote:They charge in 19.95 in EUROs per month

that's 25.95 US Dollars

I'd check the currency you are paying in if you are paying a lot more than you think you should.
I did check and if you are in france it's 19.95 euros which is around $25 but if you live in the US, it's $19.95. So I'm curious why they charge 30% more to those living in Europe. I'll call them to find out. Tax would account for 19.6% difference.

The other issue I have is the videos just won't play real time. I have to click pause and go do something else for a while and come back. I hope they can increase bandwidth.

I agree it's a good deal and I am going to profit by taking the piano, whistle, flute, & bodhran courses. I just have to find time first so I can commit to it. :)
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Re: OAIM

Post by squidgirl »

Ted wrote:I think you will find voice training to be particularly helpful in developing a musical "ear". The aim is to develop your ear, not the quality of your singing voice. I have had more than one student who were absolute musical beginners want to learn whistle. I have directed them to voice training as a way to introduce music and put it in their inner hearing (brain). Three did so and it helped ear training immeasurably. Another one dropped out altogether. The three all made much quicker progress as they could hear the intervals in their head and were able to internalize the sound they wanted to produce. Once their fingers learned to respond to the music in their heads they made rapid progress with the whistle. They all credited the voice training to put them well down the road to hearing the music in their heads.
Thanks, Ted, that's just the sort of motivational anecdote to help me keep up my momentum with the sight singing.

I'm also happy to see that OAIM is going to be adding a more preliminary Piano course. But they they do specify that this one is also for Intermediate pianists, while I have been stalled on the "late elementary" plateau for quite some time now, yet steadily expanding my late elementary chops (plink plonk) to an ever-growing variety of musical genres ;)
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cunparis
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Re: OAIM

Post by cunparis »

squidgirl wrote:I'm also happy to see that OAIM is going to be adding a more preliminary Piano course. But they they do specify that this one is also for Intermediate pianists, while I have been stalled on the "late elementary" plateau for quite some time now, yet steadily expanding my late elementary chops (plink plonk) to an ever-growing variety of musical genres ;)
Did you do the other (first) piano lesson? I just started doing the free lesson last night. I told myself if I can learn it then I'll join in order to do the other lessons. I'm really interested in the lesson with the air.
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Re: OAIM

Post by squidgirl »

The piano sample posted was kind of hard for me, but from I read (?on the blog?) the upcoming piano course was supposed to be a little easier. I'm hoping it will be enough easier to be a better fit with my (lack of) skills.
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cunparis
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Re: OAIM

Post by cunparis »

squidgirl wrote:The piano sample posted was kind of hard for me, but from I read (?on the blog?) the upcoming piano course was supposed to be a little easier. I'm hoping it will be enough easier to be a better fit with my (lack of) skills.
the first (free) lesson is definitely too hard for me. I've spend over 2 hours on it and I can play the A part with either hand separately but not up to speed together. I like the tune so it's been fun.

How did you like the lesson on the air? Was that easier??

I looked at the first lesson of the 'new' course and it does look easier so I plan to do that next and when I join, I'll start with the new/easier set.
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cunparis
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Re: OAIM

Post by cunparis »

I can finally play the first piano lesson from the older piano class, I forget the names, Tunes & Accompaniment I think it is. The tune is "Swerving for Bunnies". I spent about 4 hours on it I think, which is a very long time for a single tune. I guess that means it's way above my level. I still can't play it up to speed.

So now I'm doing the foundations class. I'm on part A of the first lesson. This is a bit easier but less interesting. I hope to build up skills along the way.

I know this is the whistle forum, so if anyone else is doing the piano classes and would like to compare notes and/or discuss, let me know and we can find a way. If it's just one person it can be via PM but if others are interested we could create a thread in the appropriate forum.

I also play to do the whistle & flute classes too, but for now my time is mainly limited to evenings after the kids are in bed so I play the digital piano with headphones.
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Tell us something.: I've been trying to learn the recorder for about 5 years now and want to add a new instrument (tin whistle) to my repertoire. I hope with only 6 holes life will be a bit easier... (John Sheahan's Marino Casino in the Gaiety theatre has something to do with it - whereas my head knows that 40 years of practice is the reason why it sounds so good, I'm still hoping...)
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Re: OAIM

Post by Kade1301 »

Has anybody learnt to play the tin whistle with the Kirsten Allstaff's Whistle Basics? I was happy with the first free lessons and ready to sign up - but then I found lesson six, Shoe the Donkey, to be rather disappointing. Because when the tune became difficult and hard to retain, the lesson speed suddenly increased - no more repeating each phrase individually a few times (and my tablet doesn't work well with the OAIM website and doesn't quickly stop the video, grrr...)

So now I wonder, was that just the team having a bad day and going faster for once, or do they expect students to be quicker on the uptake than I am? How fast does the rest of the course progress?
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Re: OAIM

Post by AaronFW »

Kade1301 wrote:Has anybody learnt to play the tin whistle with the Kirsten Allstaff's Whistle Basics? I was happy with the first free lessons and ready to sign up - but then I found lesson six, Shoe the Donkey, to be rather disappointing. Because when the tune became difficult and hard to retain, the lesson speed suddenly increased - no more repeating each phrase individually a few times (and my tablet doesn't work well with the OAIM website and doesn't quickly stop the video, grrr...)

So now I wonder, was that just the team having a bad day and going faster for once, or do they expect students to be quicker on the uptake than I am? How fast does the rest of the course progress?
It has been a few months since I've done the lessons. I think I completed 1-12 of the Whistle course but mostly focused on the flute course where I did most of the introductory flute course (taught by Steph Geremia) and the several of the Flute Fundaments course (taught by Kirsten Alstaff).

I myself don't have much ability to play by ear at this time and the courses greatly encourage playing by ear. As a result, I think they do speed up a bit as you noticed (and I think that is a common complaint that I've heard). That being said, I did manage to learn Shoe the Donkey and a few other tunes in the whistle course even though I am not good at playing by ear. It is unfortunate that your tablet does not work well with the website, because as I recall, I did need to go back a lot while working on tunes.

(My perspective may be skewed as my main barrier in doing the OAIM lessons is that I'd get distracted by the flutes and daydream about the flute I had on order... as a result I couldn't get anything done. Having received my flute recently, I am just now starting back into it again.)
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Re: OAIM

Post by busterbill »

Download problems are likely your computers or connections. I have a fast xfinity connection and I have had no problems with playback or downloading. I enjoy Oaim and recommend their step by step approach and the fact that you are exposed to a number of different instructors. You can also listen to tunes taught and played on different instruments. Lots of us can only access commercial recording that are mostly ensembles or other learners via YouTube. Having an expert fiddle player play a tune can give you a different perspective on how you want to play it. You can sign up for a month to month payment and drop any time and start up again. Another thing they offer that is fun is a virtual session of a number of sets played on three or four instruments, and a harder to find slowed down version of this session. (took me a while to figure out where it was, but it is there). I think they also offer a feedback option for an additional price.

But nothing beats face to face or personal online interaction, someone to point out things you may not notice in your playing.

I am not sure how I would feel if I were starting from scratch and I've had no experience with Blayne's online teaching. I'd vote for a bit of everything over time.
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Re: OAIM

Post by awildman »

Pacing is always an issue with canned lessons, and OAIM is no different. You either go too slow and bore the more advanced players or too fast and alienate the beginners.

And it isnt just a speed thing. They seem to skim quickly over more difficult technical bits when they should be doing exactly the opposite. IMO, they need to focus on one technique for several tunes and that just doesn't happen.

Even with personalized lessons, pacing can be a problem. It takes time for a teacher to learn a student's absorption rate and learning style. Video is incapable of learning and adapting to students.

Have you tried contacting OAIM admin and asking them to add support for your tablet? With the prevalence of mobile devices, they would be wise to cater to such platforms
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