Re: [Harp-L] Re: Beginners instruction materials

[Bill Hines <billhines4@xxxxxxxxx>]

My favorites were Jon Gindick's Rock 'n Blues Harmonica book/cd combo 
(which is fun, loose, easy to understand, doesn't require any music 
theory background but teaches some) and David Barret's series (which is 
great to follow through as a curriculum but is more scholarly/austere 
and does I think rely more on reading/theory - do the basic/beginner one 
at least and then Classic Chicago Blues 1 & 2 which was great - if you 
are looking to play blues), and then the Portnoy Masterclass cds. There 
are tons of lessons on youtube, including a well organized set by Adam 
Gussow (kudzurunner) and ones by Jon Gindick, Jason Ricci, Michael 
Rubin, Dan Gage, Ronnie Shellist, and many others.

I think these are all great ways to learn and some are better than 
others depending on your particular "way" of learning (some are 
disciplined enough to do self-paced, others need the structure of 
regular classes with a real live instructor (or over skype, phone, etc). 
I think a combination is good, at least a real instructor once in a 
while to listen and correct bad habits and keep things in check. Jon 
Gindick's Jam Camps are a *fantastic* way to start out, very friendly 
and encouraging atmosphere, fun, and at the same time gets you jamming 
along with musicians the whole week through and with a live band at the 
end (which can provide the necessary courage to go home and start 
hitting jams which is so critical to learning).

Bill Hines