Re: [Harp-L] 30 minute lessons / RIP-OFF

[Philharpn@xxxxxxx]

I've taken a few hundred private half-hour piano lessons and a few hundred 
private weekly guitar lessons over the years. 

I don't see what anyone can't accomplish in a half-hour? You play what you 
worked on all week; you work through some stuff for next week. Unless you're 
looking for an apprenticeship, that's about all most people can handle. The 
other thing is that nowadays, most teachers will allow you to record the 
lesson. So you don't have to rely on your memory or how many times you played 
a tune during a lesson.

As a teacher of group lessons in harmonica and ukulele I have found that 
some people only play their instruments during the 90-minute class time. Then 
they wonder why they don't get better.

As far a fees go, I used to pay $1.50 for a half-hour piano in the '50s. 
Now I pay $96 for 4 half-hour lessons a month for guitar (jazz-fingerstyle).   
Over the years my perspective has changed. I know enough to ask better 
questions. When I first started taking lessons I didn't have a clue: most kids 
don't. So I didn't know how to ask about what I didn't understand. 

Taking lessons after you reach a certain level is competency -- 
intermediate level -- is not so much about learning new ideas or techniques like a kid 
would but more about consulting with your teacher each week on how to play a 
certain phrase or execute a certain technique. 

Now if you're just getting started -- or finally decided to get serious -- 
it's better to get some serious instruction than fish around trying to 
figure out what you don't understand and teach yourself. Sure it costs money, but 
think of the time you save by learning from someone who actually knows what 
he or she is talking about. Instead of tackling a David Barrett harp book 
on your own, it you go through it with a teacher, you might figure out 
instantly why the noise you are making on your harp sounds nothing like the 
recording that came with the book. 

Remember, if you take lessons, half of what you are paying for is FEEDBACK. 
How do you sound? How do you play? You could record yourself and play it 
back but all you might end up with is a recording of a crappie performance 
with no clue about how to make it better or what is wrong with it. 

There are scads of videos on VHS and DVD and youtube -- but they work best 
if you already have a pretty good idea of what you're doing and have been 
playing your instrument more than a few weeks. 


Phil






In a message dated 6/21/10 9:11:40 AM, franze52@xxxxxxx writes:


> I always felt that 30 min lesson concept was a RIP-OFF...
>