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The Chairman posted:I think student horns are OK to buy without playing first as long as the store you're buying from has a reasonable return policy and a low or zero restock fee, and there's a decent local repair shop that'll fix any problems with the instrument and tweak it for best playability for you for a decent price From what little I have learned, it seems like woodwinds and brass need more maintenance than guitars. With guitars, you just change the strings once in a while, maybe replace the tuning heads, or adjust intonation which are all things you can easily do yourself without worrying about seriously getting into trouble. When that pad fell off the flute, I looked at it for a few minutes and knew that I was in way over my head on that repair. I then watched a video of reconditioning a flute and that is certainly not one of those things you can just take apart and figure out on your own.
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Jan 5, 2022 03:43
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SkunkDuster posted:From what little I have learned, it seems like woodwinds and brass need more maintenance than guitars. With guitars, you just change the strings once in a while, maybe replace the tuning heads, or adjust intonation which are all things you can easily do yourself without worrying about seriously getting into trouble. When that pad fell off the flute, I looked at it for a few minutes and knew that I was in way over my head on that repair. I then watched a video of reconditioning a flute and that is certainly not one of those things you can just take apart and figure out on your own. Yeah, there's definitely a lot of subtle, hard to spot and hard to fix problems that can go wrong with band instruments. Slightly misaligned keywork, tiny pad gaps, a little bit of grit in a valve casing, or a dent in just the wrong spot can make an instrument unplayable.
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Jan 5, 2022 03:48
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Yeah flutes can look totally fine and play like shiiiiit. Not so much a prob with new instruments but like, never buy a flute from a pawn shop without someone to play em for you. I used to meet students at pawn shops to play through their instruments and talk them down lol
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Jan 5, 2022 05:26
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I started on a Medini (ONLY $60!) flute and could never get over D above the staff + it needed a different, longer headjoint to be in tune. I couldn't imagine how bad it's been with the way overseas is cranking them out- I've seen more than one bootleg instrument being sold as an original. It was night and day once I got my Armstrong.Hawkperson posted:Yeah flutes can look totally fine and play like shiiiiit. Not so much a prob with new instruments but like, never buy a flute from a pawn shop without someone to play em for you. I used to meet students at pawn shops to play through their instruments and talk them down lol I wince every time I walk past the pawn shops in my area and the same instruments are sitting in the window in the sun. I guess it's ok for the brass but the woodwinds/anything with cork.
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Jan 5, 2022 13:09
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I can't imagine constant sunlight and heating/cooling is great for the lacquer on brass. Condensation could lead to corrosion on the internal surfaces too. And of course general neglect can lead to seized valves and slides. Those are generally fixable but it involves your horn temporarily becoming a percussion instrument 
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Jan 5, 2022 23:44
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Discussion Quorum posted:I can't imagine constant sunlight and heating/cooling is great for the lacquer on brass. Condensation could lead to corrosion on the internal surfaces too. And of course general neglect can lead to seized valves and slides. Those are generally fixable but it involves your horn temporarily becoming a percussion instrument One of the first things they teach you in beginning band is to never leave an instrument (or at least an instrument made of metal with a lacquer finish) in a hot or cold car for any extended period of time, because doing so will wreck the poo poo out of the lacquer over time (up to and including causing visible cracks to appear on the lacquer finish) and cause issues on the inside of the instrument as well. The exterior stuff MAY be a bit less of a problem with silver-plated instruments, but I have no research at all to confirm or deny that so take it with a grain of salt for now. SkunkDuster posted:I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one. I've been playing guitar for about 35 years and currently own about 20 guitars and a couple bass guitars. Around 15 of them were purchased online and I've only regretted one of them (a curly maple veneered Dean 6 string electric/acoustic. Looked beautiful - sounded like poo poo unplugged). I learned my lesson from that one and won't buy a veneer top acoustic again. If you know what you are doing and are familiar with the product and the company's reputation, you can buy guitars online with confidence. That being said, I have not and would not buy a used guitar or amp without personally playing it first. Yeah this is a good point I should've clarified with. If you're an absolute beginner student buying a well-regarded beginner instrument (i.e. something with a good rep from people who know their poo poo, and ISN'T a $50 piece of poo poo from Walmart or a cheapass Chinese thing you found on Amazon from a fake company with a crazy-looking/unpronounceable name), then buying that instrument without playing it first (depending a bit on what it is you play) is totally fine and normal. Likewise if you're a seasoned player and you've played enough different models of your instrument to know the details about what you're getting and whether or not it's likely to work for you before you buy, then you're probably good, although at least holding it in-person first still isn't a bad idea if you can (and this can really depend a fair amount on what you play; some types of instruments lend themselves to more consistent quality between themselves than others). It's when you're an intermediate-or-above player who hasn't bought or played on many different models of your particular instrument that things get hairy. That's when either playing your thing in-person before you buy, or playing and carefully evaluating a thing you ordered online AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE IT and then sending it back if it ain't a fit, is especially important. And yes, this is WAAAAAY more true for wind instruments — or at the very least for BRASS instruments — than it is for guitars. Normally if a guitar isn't a good fit for someone it's still as fully playable for them as a better-fit guitar, even though it may be uncomfortable at first and have a learning curve that takes more time and work to reach that full playability. If a brass instrument isn't a good fit then that is a whole 'nother monster; depending on how far off the mark it is, that player is basically hosed for life and just plain won't ever ever EVER be able to do certain essential things on it, no matter how hard they work or how long they spend trying. GO AHEAD AND ASK ME HOW I KNOW THAT. I. M. Gei fucked around with this message at 22:05 on Jan 6, 2022 |
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Jan 6, 2022 09:01
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while researching clarinetist Pee wee Russell, i found this and suddenly there's hope for me yet.
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Jan 13, 2022 03:25
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Advice request: I haven't played clarinet in about 20 years, but when I did I usually used VanDoren 3.5 or 4. I see the discussion about synthetic reeds and all but if VanDoren was what I used before is it still gonna be good? I figure I probably have to start at a 2 or 2.5 again.
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Feb 20, 2022 20:29
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yeah, as far as I know Vandoren reeds are still pretty standard usual reed caveats apply, like you'll want to buy a few so you can find the ones that work best for you since there's natural variation between reeds of the same manufacturer and hardness
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Feb 20, 2022 20:34
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They’re fine, def expensive though. I use Rico Royals with my middle schoolers. If you go RR, get 2.5s to start, Vandoren you might want 2s, they’re known for being harder than avg
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Feb 20, 2022 21:45
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Yeah back when I was still touring and performing ( ) I maxed out at a 3.5 on a Van Doren V12 and pretty much every instructor I had said not to go much further than that. Since I joined the local ensemble I've scaled back to a regular Van Doren 3 and am trying to work back up. I have noticed that since I started playing again, I'm consistently pretty flat, especially in the lower register. I used to be dead on tune 99% of the time. Obviously part of that is retraining my embouchure, but will harder reeds help with that too? I'm using the shorter 650mm barrel on my Buffet Festival too and I'm still a little under.
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Feb 20, 2022 22:55
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Hazo posted:I have noticed that since I started playing again, I'm consistently pretty flat, especially in the lower register. I used to be dead on tune 99% of the time. Obviously part of that is retraining my embouchure, but will harder reeds help with that too? I'm using the shorter 650mm barrel on my Buffet Festival too and I'm still a little under. From my quest in trying to play in tune- yes. I was playing 2.5 and when I got a teacher they immediately said I had to start working up to at least a 3. It was driving me nuts that we were so out of tune so they had to bend his notes until I got comfortable with the new reed strength. Also, where your fingers are over open notes can affect it. You may have to relearn how close or far away from the open holes you have to keep them.
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Feb 20, 2022 23:32
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Hawkperson posted:They’re fine, def expensive though. I use Rico Royals with my middle schoolers. If you go RR, get 2.5s to start, Vandoren you might want 2s, they’re known for being harder than avg Yeah I picked up Vandoren regular 2.5s cause that's what they had at Guitar Center (open Sunday) and boy is it hard haha. I found a 20 year old box of V12 4s, think they're still good? I'll pick up 2s from a real music store this week. Edit: I forgot about all the crap of having to soak a reed in water for a few hours
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Feb 21, 2022 04:44
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NC Wyeth Death Cult posted:From my quest in trying to play in tune- yes. I was playing 2.5 and when I got a teacher they immediately said I had to start working up to at least a 3. It was driving me nuts that we were so out of tune so they had to bend his notes until I got comfortable with the new reed strength. Also, where your fingers are over open notes can affect it. You may have to relearn how close or far away from the open holes you have to keep them. Cool, thanks. I'm getting frustrated by not being in tune like I used to be so it's nice to hear I'm on the right track. Literally a Dog posted:Yeah I picked up Vandoren regular 2.5s cause that's what they had at Guitar Center (open Sunday) and boy is it hard haha. I found a 20 year old box of V12 4s, think they're still good? I'll pick up 2s from a real music store this week. Are they still sealed in the box? I don't know about 20 years, but in my experience older reeds are absolutely still usable if they're mint condition and stored properly. But your best bet will be to pick up a new box anyhow, or at least a couple single packs of softer reeds from Guitar Center to work your way up. And thank you for shaking loose the memory of hours spent wetting, curing, drying, and cutting reeds on a scrap glass plate from Home Depot.
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Feb 21, 2022 05:11
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Hazo posted:Are they still sealed in the box? I don't know about 20 years, but in my experience older reeds are absolutely still usable if they're mint condition and stored properly. But your best bet will be to pick up a new box anyhow, or at least a couple single packs of softer reeds from Guitar Center to work your way up. It was an open box and they didn't seal individual reeds back then. Got some 2s from Amazon (I was lazy) and that's much better, but I might even have to go down to 1.5! I need to figure out where the good local music shop is, I only know my guitar shop (which is not Guitar Center, they were just on the way home and open on Sunday). Crazy considering I was playing on 4s, albeit 20 years ago. I'm hoping this helps me to recover after Covid killed my ability to breathe 2 years ago.
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Feb 22, 2022 03:44
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Literally a Dog posted:I'm hoping this helps me to recover after Covid killed my ability to breathe 2 years ago. This is anecdotal but I pushed to start practicing again about a week after I got in the clear after my bout with covid and it was amazing the way long tones on both my clarinet and trumpet opened my lungs up (or felt like it).
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Feb 22, 2022 18:52
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NC Wyeth Death Cult posted:This is anecdotal but I pushed to start practicing again about a week after I got in the clear after my bout with covid and it was amazing the way long tones on both my clarinet and trumpet opened my lungs up (or felt like it). That back-pressure really helps
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Feb 22, 2022 18:55
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I'm really hoping! It's been painful. And besides, it's a pity I haven't kept it up at least a little. But I'm surprised I'm remembering my way around the keys.
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Feb 23, 2022 02:42
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IME you won't need 1.5s for long or maybe at all, if you do buy em maybe just get the orange box Rico 3-pack. If it's that hard to play it may be worth taking a look at the mouthpiece or the ligature. Mouthpiece: even the tiniest crack, chip, dent, etc on the edges surrounding the reed is real bad Ligature: easy way to double check is to just use a rubber band or hair tie to check the reed. If it's easier to play that way, you've got a bad one. Sometimes the metal ones deform in a way that isn't obvious to the eye but really messes up reed placement. luckily they're cheap
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Feb 23, 2022 02:53
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It's also possible the clarinet itself has a leak or crack -- if you went back and picked up the same clarinet you originally stored 20 years ago, it's possible the pads or the cork have dried out and aren't sealing properly, which will cause a lot of playing issues
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Feb 23, 2022 22:41
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The Chairman posted:It's also possible the clarinet itself has a leak or crack -- if you went back and picked up the same clarinet you originally stored 20 years ago, it's possible the pads or the cork have dried out and aren't sealing properly, which will cause a lot of playing issues I'm pretty convinced one of the pads is leaking, and it's pretty high up on the clarinet. A lot of "woosh" sound. Wasn't sure if that's me or the clarinet though really. I did have a shop look at it about 10 years ago to clean it etc but still, it's old now. I picked up a yamaha mouthpiece and ligature just to try and some of the 3 packs of ricos to try out, and a stand so I can have it ready to play. I have too much other stuff to do in the next few hours and tomorrow but I will try and get to trying it out 
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Feb 24, 2022 00:57
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Oh yeah so the high C is really hard to play and high A I think. So probably something up there needs to be fixed. Otherwise it still sounds beautiful so I'm thankful for that.
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Feb 25, 2022 03:25
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Literally a Dog posted:Oh yeah so the high C is really hard to play and high A I think. So probably something up there needs to be fixed. Otherwise it still sounds beautiful so I'm thankful for that. The leak can cause issues in intonation and resistance. Issues in intonation can be caused by the reed, the mouthpiece, the barrel, or the instrument itself. A change in the reed (and embouchure) can mean the mouthpiece may need to be changed. If any of the corks or felts shrunk significantly or fell off, that can throw off the intonation on one or more notes by throwing off the key cup height. When I returned to sax after about a decade I wound up changing my setup a few times until I settled in. Granted, I didn’t have a good setup when I was in school, and I was on rentals. I’d get it checked out by a good tech (if you live near a Sam Ash, I can tell you if they have a tech, and more importantly, if they’re worth taking it to). I’d get a few three packs of various sizes of reeds, and when you’re finally settled on your size, get a variety pack from both Vandoren and D’Addario/Rico when you’re ready to settle. I’d also try out some different mouthpieces at some point, since your breathing and embouchure has changed a bit, so the mouthpiece you have may no longer be the right fit. I believe my store has the Chedeville Elite mouthpieces on blowout for something ridiculous like $200; but I’d also try a few vandoren and D’Addario reserves. If you can’t find a store that has stock, and more importantly, won’t let you return them, give me a shout and I’ll set you up.
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Mar 1, 2022 05:43
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Literally a Dog posted:I'm pretty convinced one of the pads is leaking, and it's pretty high up on the clarinet. A lot of "woosh" sound. Wasn't sure if that's me or the clarinet though really. I did have a shop look at it about 10 years ago to clean it etc but still, it's old now. I picked up a yamaha mouthpiece and ligature just to try and some of the 3 packs of ricos to try out, and a stand so I can have it ready to play. I have too much other stuff to do in the next few hours and tomorrow but I will try and get to trying it out Yeah that sounds like leak in one of your side keys, that would be my first guess. Air support problems and leaks from getting your embouchure together would be my second, but I don't think getting the clarinet tuned up is a bad idea either way. Also, this is a cool thread! Sad I've missed two pages already! I've played woodwinds (mostly saxophone and clarinet) professionally for almost a decade now, finished music school about 6 years ago. (Props to the music teachers in the thread, I decided to go a different path after student teaching and you guys are just built different in a good way) I mostly do latin, funk, and jazz nowadays, but sometimes I'll play in a saxophone quartet with some of my old college pals. I can give out saxophone advice pretty readily, clarinet is a different beast and flute I'm still just hanging on barely. As for the new Bassoon player in the thread, a lot of the things you're dealing with right now are just things that all bassoon players deal with. Making your own reeds is the standard thing bassoonists do, because they can make the reeds exactly how they want them, and playing the instrument in general is a lot of ugly weird half-sounds before you can get the good sounds out. Just keep at it, it's a process.
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Mar 5, 2022 22:24
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quick and dirty leak test: put the top half of the clarinet together only (mp/lig/reed/barrel/upper body), cover holes with left hand, cover the bottom of the tenon with your right hand so it seals, blow in the mouthpiece. if it does anything but give you backpressure then there's a leak in that there clarinet. Actually maybe you just put the barrel on? I don't have a clarinet on me to go through the motions lol. Definitely don't put your mouth on the cork, cork grease is grossFartingBedpost posted:(Props to the music teachers in the thread, I decided to go a different path after student teaching and you guys are just built different in a good way) honestly, I couldn't do the pro/gigging life either. I like the stability and the socialization. I'm too goony to be trusted with a career where I could easily just hole up in my house instead of going outside. teaching online blew for sure but live and in person is the poo poo The other day I uh let my beginners "create new instruments" because frankly they were doing it anyway and I might as well supervise and while I'll probably never do it again I don't exactly regret it. One kid made an 8 foot long clarinet so we had a quick impromptu lesson about how levers work before they could snap the tenons lifting it by the ends. in the end 6 kids had to gingerly hold it up and surprisingly/not surprisingly it sounded pretty much like a bass clarinet but was a royal pain in the rear end to push air through.
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Mar 6, 2022 08:11
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Hawkperson posted:quick and dirty leak test: put the top half of the clarinet together only (mp/lig/reed/barrel/upper body), cover holes with left hand, cover the bottom of the tenon with your right hand so it seals, blow in the mouthpiece. if it does anything but give you backpressure then there's a leak in that there clarinet. Actually maybe you just put the barrel on? I don't have a clarinet on me to go through the motions lol. Definitely don't put your mouth on the cork, cork grease is gross I just tried this on my R13 and yeah it works with or without the mouthpiece. No leaks, so I'm not too worried about the top tenon but if you have anything for a quick n dirty test on the lower half I'd love to hear it, because that's where I think I need maintenance.
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Mar 6, 2022 21:43
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FartingBedpost posted:As for the new Bassoon player in the thread, a lot of the things you're dealing with right now are just things that all bassoon players deal with. Making your own reeds is the standard thing bassoonists do, because they can make the reeds exactly how they want them, and playing the instrument in general is a lot of ugly weird half-sounds before you can get the good sounds out. Just keep at it, it's a process.  I still want to play, though, so I'm not giving up just yet!
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Mar 6, 2022 22:08
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Hazo posted:I just tried this on my R13 and yeah it works with or without the mouthpiece. You can do the same test on the bottom tenon (without the mouthpiece, obviously)
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Mar 7, 2022 00:44
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The Grapist posted:You can do the same test on the bottom tenon (without the mouthpiece, obviously) Yeah this, just make sure you try all the low E possibilities at least once (both low E keys alone and F+E keys combined) because often the in-need-of-adjustment clarinet seals with some and not others Edit: btw, I did end up getting that bassoon and played it once, was having a pretty good time playing with my beginners til I realized I was playing E instead of Eb, looked up the fingering for Eb in the middle of the staff, had a pouty tantrum and handed it off to a student lol
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Mar 7, 2022 00:50
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Oooh good ideas. I did a test with the top and bottom half and no leaks with everything closed. Also I did get a new mouthpiece and ligature so I think it's a combination of reeds / me. Still I'll try and find a place to clean it up as it is over 20 years old, etc.
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Mar 7, 2022 21:06
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Hawkperson posted:honestly, I couldn't do the pro/gigging life either. I like the stability and the socialization. I'm too goony to be trusted with a career where I could easily just hole up in my house instead of going outside. teaching online blew for sure but live and in person is the poo poo Oh yeah, gigging is sometimes hyper stressful, especially the gigs that pay ultra well but aren’t ultra fun. (NYE gigs primarily pop into my head while I type this lol) quote:The other day I uh let my beginners "create new instruments" because frankly they were doing it anyway and I might as well supervise and while I'll probably never do it again I don't exactly regret it. One kid made an 8 foot long clarinet so we had a quick impromptu lesson about how levers work before they could snap the tenons lifting it by the ends. in the end 6 kids had to gingerly hold it up and surprisingly/not surprisingly it sounded pretty much like a bass clarinet but was a royal pain in the rear end to push air through. That’s awesome lmao
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Mar 9, 2022 05:04
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FartingBedpost posted:Oh yeah, gigging is sometimes hyper stressful, especially the gigs that pay ultra well but aren’t ultra fun. (NYE gigs primarily pop into my head while I type this lol) loll I do a little Christmas caroling gigging on the side just for funsies, ridiculous outfit and top hat and all, and yeah agreed the high pay/high pressure ones are the worst. Luckily (?) I am not pretty enough to be cast on the TV gigs my company gets or I'd probably have a meltdown. The best/worst ones are almost always the private parties. In 2016 I did one at a house with a Christmas tree covered in MAGA hats - you will be shocked, shocked to hear they did not tip - while this year I did one where we were a surprise gift to the host's mom, and that lady had a fit in the best loving way, it was great. I guess that's a little off topic for wind instrument thread. Here, I'll get back on track AND be a bummer: I finally managed to get covid and I'm scared it's gonna gently caress up my playing 
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Mar 9, 2022 06:10
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Hawkperson posted:I guess that's a little off topic for wind instrument thread. Here, I'll get back on track AND be a bummer: I finally managed to get covid and I'm scared it's gonna gently caress up my playing FWIW I had it at the end of December and even though I’d get tired easily for a while, there were no long-term effects on my trumpet playing.
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Mar 10, 2022 13:46
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Hawkperson posted:I guess that's a little off topic for wind instrument thread. Here, I'll get back on track AND be a bummer: I finally managed to get covid and I'm scared it's gonna gently caress up my playing I got it back in December and it messed me up for about a month, but now I don’t really notice a difference. I think playing has actually improved my recovery if that makes sense. Just take it easy for a week or two, see where you’re at when you practice for short stretches.
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Mar 13, 2022 22:22
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In the interest of keeping this thread alive- what are some of your experiences with teachers good and bad and what do you consider good/bad? I have had a lot of luck with voice, drum trumpet and guitar teachers but for some reason I am 2/3 for not very good clarinet teachers. I had one clarinet teacher insist I was trying to outblow him by playing loud when I was just trying to keep up while struggling with my fingering. Most recently, I had one who didn't realize I was dropping out because I couldn't keep up and thought that the sound he heard was our clarinets playing in perfect pitch together. He also was a huge one for throwing sight reading at me at the intended speed and disregarding what we practiced the lesson before. Sometimes I thought he did that just to get me to stop lessons with him (if he did it worked). For some reason, the two ones I would consider "not very good" teachers were bad at assessing my skills. Maybe just because I professed an interest in klezmer we can try some easy stuff instead of jumping into David Tarras territory.
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Apr 6, 2022 17:52
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Man, it’s tough being a private lessons teacher. I know because I suck so, so bad at it. It’s extra funny since I am a competent band director. I can teach 30 of you, but if it’s just you and me…sorry. In my experience good private teachers: Are masters of their instruments (obviously) Are willing to personalize your lessons instead of just taking you through the “standard” rep Know how to work through downswings in motivation and playing ability (this is where I falter big time) Listen to you play more than they talk/play I think that last one is key. Happens in K-12 teaching a lot too. We get all high on our own supply and think the learning is happening when it’s about us/that when lessons go quickly for us our students are having the same experience. Not so lol. Being able to pick up student energy/emotional state is important to keeping a lesson flowing. I think my favorite private teacher was my flute teacher in middle school. She just always gave me music that was exactly challenging enough to be fun but not impossible. Had a sense of excitement and interest when I performed for her that made me excited about getting music prepped to play for her. She’s retired now but I hope she passed on her knowledge to somebody because she was great.
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Apr 6, 2022 19:54
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Private teachers are like therapists - if you're not getting what you need from them, don't hesitate to find another. A good private teacher will focus on your goals and not just work through the same canon they do with every student. If your teacher won't focus on you and your goals and is trying to teach things that are too advanced, you might non-intuitively have better luck with a higher level teacher, like a clarinet studio instructor at a university. Local teachers who teach students up to the high school level, especially if they haven't been doing it for a long time, will tend to treat every student the same and expect the same path from beginning child to high school competency, and don't know how to work outside that box. A university instructor, if they're not a jerk, spends a lot of time thinking about and learning about musical pedagogy, and not just playing and teaching the clarinet specifically. If they have the time, they may be willing (and happy) to take on a non-traditional path student and get you where you want to be. If they don't have the time, they can probably recommend a good student at the university and can help coach that student on how to teach an adult non-pro. NC Wyeth Death Cult - based on your name I assume you're in or near Philly. I'd suggest checking at West Chester University, University of the Arts, Villanova, and Temple to get a feel for their clarinet studios. You might bounce off of a few more teachers, but somewhere you'll find someone who will personally have fun teaching you and your specifics.
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Apr 6, 2022 20:51
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One thing I noticed from both my trumpet and clarinet teachers was they are/were both not into scales and long tones. Trumpet teacher has an amazing ear and intuitively knows what notes to play and the clarinet teacher just never even mentioned them as a means of study.Erwin posted:
I definitely got what I wanted out of the lessons but it was like pulling teeth- frequently needing to stop and ask him to help me play a passage in tune. He was a younger guy just out of college so I think he was used to constantly encouraging beginners and high schoolers so I think the next time I get lessons I definitely might try a higher level of experience even if it costs more. Believe it or not, I honestly think my problem is that I tell teachers that i need to work on the basics and shore up my foundations but then they want to keep it fun. I don't want fun. I want to play in tune and with a competent speed. Hawkperson posted:Man, it’s tough being a private lessons teacher. I know because I suck so, so bad at it. It’s extra funny since I am a competent band director. I can teach 30 of you, but if it’s just you and me…sorry. I once witnessed a friend's brother getting an at-home lesson on guitar and the look on the teacher's face as the kid tortured that poor instrument was heartbreaking. It has to be tough to keep it fresh when you're dealing with young students. I work in the building maintenance trade and when I was starting out I had a boss blow up at me because I didn't know how to cut tubing. he just absolutely lost it because I let the cutter walk (this makes soldering like 10000x harder) - he later came back and explained to me that he, a 65 year old guy, had been doing HVAC since he was 16 when he worked for his dad and he just assumed that everyone knew how to do it. I think that's something that teachers fall into - in the course of their 10,000 hours of mastery they forget that at one point they were a clueless student, too.
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Apr 10, 2022 00:46
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NC Wyeth Death Cult posted:I work in the building maintenance trade and when I was starting out I had a boss blow up at me because I didn't know how to cut tubing. he just absolutely lost it because I let the cutter walk (this makes soldering like 10000x harder) - he later came back and explained to me that he, a 65 year old guy, had been doing HVAC since he was 16 when he worked for his dad and he just assumed that everyone knew how to do it. I think that's something that teachers fall into - in the course of their 10,000 hours of mastery they forget that at one point they were a clueless student, too. For sure. Plus, the kind of people who get into being professional musicians are often the ones who pick up music concepts super quickly. That makes it really tough to teach those same concepts to someone who might not grok it after a sentence of explanation. It’s fixable through practice and experience, but it’s a very common beginner teacher pitfall. Personally I’ve always been super good at rhythms for whatever reason, reading/performing/dictating. Unfortunately “what’s the problem, just do what the rhythm says” is not useful teaching for most students lol. On the other hand developing characteristic tone and woodshedding technical parts took a lot of active and intense work for me; getting students to a solid base in those two areas is a lot easier for me.
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Apr 10, 2022 02:01
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NC Wyeth Death Cult posted:I once witnessed a friend's brother getting an at-home lesson on guitar and the look on the teacher's face as the kid tortured that poor instrument was heartbreaking. It has to be tough to keep it fresh when you're dealing with young students. This is true of pretty much any skill. The ability to do the thing and the ability to teach the thing are not the same skill, and are both present in an individual to varying degrees. The best teachers have both, but someone who is a good teacher and a marginal pipe fitter can teach pipefitting to a neophyte better than a master pipefitter who has no patience and a propensity to yell.
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Apr 10, 2022 14:25
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