tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post2046832630026911192..comments2024-03-29T07:38:17.008-05:00Comments on The Music Salon: Training is ExpensiveBryan Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-67618168342846483612018-02-08T22:40:28.492-06:002018-02-08T22:40:28.492-06:00@Al: yes, you are absolutely correct. It is very i...@Al: yes, you are absolutely correct. It is very important to have a good teacher in the early stages when your basic technique is being formed. Alas, for many players this is just not available.<br /><br />@Anonymous: perhaps you are right!<br /><br />@Will: Hang in there, I'm sure that you will find people for a small Baroque ensemble sooner or later.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-36160985427518079762018-02-08T19:03:20.192-06:002018-02-08T19:03:20.192-06:00At least during the Yale academic year, I go to hi...At least during the Yale academic year, I go to high quality classical recitals and concerts once or twice a week, plus all the concerts of the New Haven Symphony, so I understand and agree with everything you've said about orchestral music and, implicitly, chamber music too. For me right now it seems impossible to find other adult learners in classical music --not to mention early baroque as my special interest-- but at least I'm finally recruiting a few solar electricians who play (or are about to start playing) guitar, so I can work on songs by Simon & Garfunkel, Eric Clapton and Kansas, at leat until I can get better and find some early baroque players ready to hit the local taverns and hospitals.Will Wilkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01997868915978439364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-39307024943847298752018-02-08T15:31:18.127-06:002018-02-08T15:31:18.127-06:00You might be actually surprised to be very welcome...You might be actually surprised to be very welcome should you decide to offer your help. You never knowAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-16557480448577747292018-02-08T13:13:10.414-06:002018-02-08T13:13:10.414-06:00The most important time for lessons with a good te...The most important time for lessons with a good teacher is at the very beginning. All too often students play for years before being deemed "good enough" for a private teacher. I started playing trombone at 15, but from the beginning studied with an excellent teacher. The first several months were basic tone production -- breathing, embouchure, jaw position, posture. As a result I find it impossible to do those things badly. At one point I didn't play for almost 20 years, but was able to come back well and was soon welcomed into good ensembles in the area. If I had been allowed to just play along and teach myself that would have been impossible, and playing would never have been really enjoyable.<br />Al MacDonaldnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-27336473155505567122018-02-08T09:42:04.307-06:002018-02-08T09:42:04.307-06:00Will, this is NOT directed at people like you. Not...Will, this is NOT directed at people like you. Not at all! I have nothing negative to say to anyone who is teaching themselves violin or any other instrument. More power to you!<br /><br />But you can help your progress by doing some basic technical exercises like scales and arpeggios. Think of it as a necessary warmup. Also, by taking some private lessons you might be able to fix some things that might be holding you back. These two things, technical exercises and private instruction, can save you time and energy.<br /><br />The requirements for orchestral musicians are pretty tough, if they want to sound good together, and don't really apply to amateur musicians at home.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-91502680186753446822018-02-07T13:52:19.183-06:002018-02-07T13:52:19.183-06:00Ouch! This one hurt. Over two and a half years t...Ouch! This one hurt. Over two and a half years teaching myself violin, and I've had only 3 lessons. That teacher is highly accomplished and owes me a lesson for a solar site analysis I did for him last month. I called him 6 weeks ago and said let's do "occasional" lessons --and he agreed, to start sometime in Feb....<br /><br />I never practice scales or arpeggios, though recently I dug out the scale books I bought and placed them in sight of my violin so I might start the dreaded exercises. I do think I've got pretty good intonation, at least I'm hitting the right notes even if not always with the sweetest tone. No doubt my rhythms are off, and I absolutely cannot (yet) count, though I have been instinctively getting better at doubling the speed for every flag and plausibly getting dotted rhythms at least sometimes. But I'm not a youth, I am a single father very attentive to my son, I work full time at sometimes strenuous manual labor that can make me tired, I sing in 2 choirs (with my son!) that each practice one evening a week....and I do play some violin every day.<br /><br />I would love to someday play good enough to join a local community orchestra, and I do hope to fins another adult learner or two so we can put together a baroque consort good enough for local taverns and nursing homes. In rock music every town can have a dozen garage bands but in classical music it's a lot harder to find locals unless they are professional and in a league I'll never be able to join.Will Wilkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01997868915978439364noreply@blogger.com