Members simplygoodmusic Posted January 28, 2009 Members Share Posted January 28, 2009 I started my music studies here exactly one week ago, and for the first couple of days, I was really worried about the possibilities available at my school. I was placed in an ensemble that played mostly rock, which I hated, and with a teacher who does mostly modern jazz fusion. All the lessons were based around american music, and I felt out of place with my love for other styles. I figured I would spend maybe a semester here, work on some important things, and go to study somewhere else, either ethnomusicology or anything else that would offer a wider BUT, this monday, after going behind some teachers' backs, and a try out, I was placed in the Gypsy Jazz ensemble, with a man named John McGann. And today I was confirmed for private lessons with the same man. John McGann is a great guy, and a very talented teacher and player, who in the two hour session I was with him for, managed to show me more than most teachers have done in a year. He deals both in gypsy jazz and bluegrass (which I am very interested in learning), which is ideal. So, to sum up, I am ecstatic! For the first time since I fell in love with gypsy jazz, I get to work with someone face to face, someone who can hopefully lead me in the right direction and help work on all those things which have been confusing me of late. Yay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted January 28, 2009 Members Share Posted January 28, 2009 Congrats! Keep us informed on further developments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted January 28, 2009 Members Share Posted January 28, 2009 Congratulations. I was influenced during my school years by several teachers who went "above and beyond." None of them were music teachers--in fact, most were English teachers--but they left a mark nonetheless. A good teacher--of anything--is a great find. Gotta say, it seems rare to find someone who's into both gypsy jazz and bluegrass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members babablowfish Posted January 28, 2009 Members Share Posted January 28, 2009 Good for you. Learning is one of the most daunting yet exciting things we can do. Finding the right teacher makes it a whole lot less daunting. Keep us updated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Delphinius Hume Posted January 28, 2009 Members Share Posted January 28, 2009 That's excellent news. A good teacher can make ALL of the difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members simplygoodmusic Posted January 28, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 28, 2009 Thanks folks. I'm very excited about the whole thing, as you may have gathered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jamesp Posted January 28, 2009 Members Share Posted January 28, 2009 That's fantastic! I'm still hoping he'll post his mando version of Mood for a Day to YouTube someday. One Saturday, there was a post on the ManolinCafe abt prog rock on mando, and the question of whether anyone had arranged it for mando came up. About two hours later he'd arranged, practiced, recorded and uploaded it. John McGann is legendary. Good to see him posting on the Cafe again too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members simplygoodmusic Posted January 28, 2009 Author Members Share Posted January 28, 2009 That's fantastic! I'm still hoping he'll post his mando version of Mood for a Day to YouTube someday. One Saturday, there was a post on the ManolinCafe abt prog rock on mando, and the question of whether anyone had arranged it for mando came up. About two hours later he'd arranged, practiced, recorded and uploaded it. John McGann is legendary. Good to see him posting on the Cafe again too. His arrangements are great. We are playing "Django Steps" in my ensemble... a play on giant steps for gypsy jazz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RizinRico Posted January 28, 2009 Members Share Posted January 28, 2009 finding a good teacher who can challenge you to do more and help you with your process of learning is at least 25% of learning obviously you add the other 75% with hard work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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