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Whatever instrument you wish to learn can be learned. As long as you are willing to work, it will happen. It needs no special talent. It has been said that genius is 99% perspiration and only 1% inspiration. The same is true of becoming a musician. If you know what you need to be working on at any given point in your studies and go ahead with that work, you will make progress and eventually become a musician. I can give you the guidance at any point in your development to take you to the next level of proficiency.
Making music is a two-fold process. On one hand, you need to know how to work your instrument, just as if it were a hammer or a screwdriver. An instrument is thus a tool, something you use to put musical sound into the air. This part is a physical process whereby you learn to control your own body in such a way as to get the desired sounds from the instrument.
On the other hand, you also need to have something that you want to put into the air, whether you want to play the music that other people have written or whether you want to make your own music. For this, you need to control and shape what's in your heart and mind. The study of music theory seems, at first, to be an arcane mystery, but the fact of the matter is that if you learn the theory, as I teach it to you, it will save you from having to re-invent the wheel.
Historically, making music always came before theory. People made tunes and songs according to what they wanted to hear, without worrying about the right way to do things. Without the benefit of the present day recording industry, that meant that what we call "Popular" music was truly popular. If a given song wasn't liked, it died for lack of interest. What survived was popular.
As time went on and there came to be more and more music, people figured out ways to write it down so they wouldn't forget it. At that point, theory was born because now people could look at it and say things like, "The lute player does THIS in almost every song, and every time he does THIS, he then does THAT. Therefore, if a song is to succeed, one must do THIS in it and then do THAT."
Modern music theory has a lot of THIS's and THAT's piled up simply because music has been around so long. That pile makes the whole thing look intimidating, but that's why I won't require you to learn it all in one day. Also, not everybody needs the whole pile.
The primary benefit of private lessons is that you get just what you need at the pace that is best for you. I have more than 25 years of experience at breaking down music practicum and music theory into bite-size pieces for any student, whether that student is 8 years old or 80. Although I do have a B.A. in music from Arizona State University, my background is in the non-conventional or ethnomusicological fields, i.e., the folk strings and free reed areas.
I have found that no matter how comprehensive a school music program is, there are always certain students who don't quite fit that program, who don't find any standard instrument they wish to learn and/or who require more time to learn than is available. It is precisely that type of student who can benefit from lessons with THE MUSICIAN MAKER
Normal scheduling consists of a weekly half-hour lesson at $25.00
per lesson, paid monthly, in advance. Vacation, doctor appointments,
etc., will be taken into consideration when calculating payment.
Lessons canceled less than 24 hours' notice will result in forfeiture
of payment.
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