Lessons?

lilymaid · Post by **lilymaid** » Fri Apr 18, 2003 2:10 am

I’ve decided lessons mightn’t kill me, and I have ornamentation issues. What are your general thoughts on this?

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Fri Apr 18, 2003 3:35 am

Couldn't hurt, as long as your teacher knows what he's doing.

Bretton · Post by **Bretton** » Fri Apr 18, 2003 5:57 am

With a good teacher it might only take a couple of lessons to get you going in the right direction...

burnsbyrne · Post by **burnsbyrne** » Fri Apr 18, 2003 6:05 am

Go for the lessons. A good teacher can help you avoid months of frustration and mistakes. If you want to improve quickly that's the way to go. Just make sure you get a good one.
Mike

lilymaid · Post by **lilymaid** » Sat Apr 19, 2003 1:13 am

Thank you all very much. It seems lessons are the way to go. Now the problem is finding a teacher.

I live in northern Colorado. Can anyone offer any advice?

blackhawk · Post by **blackhawk** » Sat Apr 19, 2003 1:40 am

That's the hard part, actually finding a good teacher.

susnfx · Post by **susnfx** » Sat Apr 19, 2003 8:45 am

If you are unable to find a teacher locally (a problem a good many of us have), you might consider Scoiltrad
www.scoiltrad.com
While not ideal for everybody, I've personally found the lessons and the assessments extremely helpful. Contact me if you'd like more details.
Susan

FJohnSharp · Post by **FJohnSharp** » Sat Apr 19, 2003 9:18 am

I second the thoughts on lessons I just started and already I'm seeing improvement. I learned more in my one hour lesson than I had in weeks of mucking about by myself.

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Sun Apr 20, 2003 12:32 am

With a good teacher it might only take a couple of lessons to get you going in the right direction...

A good teacher can help you avoid months of frustration and mistakes.

That's the hard part, actually finding a good teacher.

What is it that makes a whistle teacher good?

FJohnSharp · Post by **FJohnSharp** » Sun Apr 20, 2003 10:15 am

One, he/she knows whistle and Irish music.
Two, he/she can communicate.
Three, he/she likes teaching.

How do you find one? that's the million pennywhistle question. It's best to have referrals, but in most places you'll just be lucky to find one at all, let alone be able to choose from several.

burnsbyrne · Post by **burnsbyrne** » Mon Apr 21, 2003 9:45 am

Cranberry wrote:
With a good teacher it might only take a couple of lessons to get you going in the right direction...

A good teacher can help you avoid months of frustration and mistakes.

That's the hard part, actually finding a good teacher.
What is it that makes a whistle teacher good?

A good teacher can:
1) Explain something clearly in more than one way
2) Change his teaching methods to suit the needs and background of the student. i.e., doesn't teach a 5 yr old and a 50 yr old student the same way
3) Convey his own enthusiasm and love of the music to the student

That's a begining.
Mike

arythmic · Post by **arythmic** » Mon Apr 21, 2003 1:37 pm

Back when I was taking some lessons with Wendy at House of Musical Traditions (this was several years ago), she used to conduct remote lessons with a student by sending audio tapes back and forth with critiques, demonstrations of technique, etc. While probably not as good as an in-person lesson, it could certainly be a help if there are no teachers in your area. FWIW.