Members ShesGotVerve Posted May 17, 2004 Members Posted May 17, 2004 .....to suit my needs? I've spent some time talking to one guy who gives lessons but he is first and foremost bluegrass fingerpick style (and quite good). I love bluegrass and fingerpicking, but would prefer to start learning flatpicking first.....more folk, americana style. My influences though are David Rawlings, Jorma Kaukonen, Brad Davis, Dan Tyminski and others. So I'm not sure he would be the best instructor for what my goals are and I'm not sure how to find instructors. Living in Raleigh, this town is big enough I'm sure there are many people who teach but how to find them? I thought there'd be a great website that could locate and list by zip code, but didn't find one. How about stopping by Harry's Guitar Shop? I imagine they've got a bulletin board littered with business cards, but how to separate the wheat from the chaffe? TIA....
Members GuitarTyro Posted May 18, 2004 Members Posted May 18, 2004 You might check out Bruce Emery at: http://www.skepticalguitarist.com/ He is in Raleigh, and from what I gather, has a good reputation.
Members Little Dreamer Posted May 19, 2004 Members Posted May 19, 2004 You can always use the yellow pages. However you find them, call them up and ask about what they teach. You'll probably be able to tell a lot about them just by their attitude on the phone. Do they ask you questions so they can tell if they're the teacher you're looking for, and do they sound anxious to help you? Or do they just rattle off a memorized list of what they do, like "take it or leave it, I don't care"? Narrow it down to a few and over a few weeks, take a lesson from each of the good candidates. Maybe one a week. Decide who you like best. Maybe you don't like any of them - so keep looking. One important thing - if you take a lesson from somebody and you don't like it at all, don't keep going back to them out of some sense of loyalty. Just try somebody else. You want somebody who teaches you what you want to learn while at the same time steering you in the right direction for the future. And of course it has to be somebody you like and feel comfortable asking questions of.
Members ShesGotVerve Posted May 19, 2004 Author Members Posted May 19, 2004 Thanks a lot LD for the advice. The guy that the other poster mentioned is a tad too busy for the likes of me, but he might be able to give me some names. I'm going to speak with someone today and see what his 411 is. I think choosing a few, taking a single lesson from each and then finding one that I mesh with well is a great approach. As someone mentioned, if I don't click with my teacher I'm not going to learn. Thanks much!
Members ShesGotVerve Posted May 19, 2004 Author Members Posted May 19, 2004 Found an instructor who I think will be good for me. We spent a half hour talking this afternoon and I got to hear him play some. He's defintely versatile - plays both electric and accoustic, from classical to rock to blues, to bluegrass, to shredding (whatever THAT is....I didn't ask!) My first lesson is tomorrow night and after 15 years of wanting to do this but putting it off, I can't wait! To use a phrase from a younger, (hipper?) generation - "I'm STOKED"!
Members UncleDig Posted May 22, 2004 Members Posted May 22, 2004 Here's an idea for a goal: When you get a little bit more confident, learn the basic chords of Elvis Costello's "Allison". Yeah, yeah, I know - he spelled it wrong I just think it would be very cool for you to be able to knock that one off around the campfire. Dig
Members ShesGotVerve Posted May 23, 2004 Author Members Posted May 23, 2004 Originally posted by UncleDig Here's an idea for a goal: When you get a little bit more confident, learn the basic chords of Elvis Costello's "Allison". Yeah, yeah, I know - he spelled it wrong I just think it would be very cool for you to be able to knock that one off around the campfire. Dig Hiya UncleDig, Great song, always loved it. But I'll have to learn to play it loud enough so no one can hear my voice. A singer I ain't!!! That's a groovin idea though. Wonder how difficult the song is to learn; seems to be a pretty simple melody, but what do I know. I can demonstrate how cancer cells can overcome proliferative blocks through the illegitimate transcriptional up-regulation of the gene encoding the catalytic subunit of the telomerase enzyme. But ask me to fret an F and I'm like a drooling baby trying to take its first step.
Members Joe Merlino Posted May 23, 2004 Members Posted May 23, 2004 Originally posted by ShesGotVerve I can demonstrate how cancer cells can overcome proliferative blocks through the illegitimate transcriptional up-regulation of the gene encoding the catalytic subunit of the telomerase enzyme.But ask me to fret an F and I'm like a drooling baby trying to take its first step. Okay, yeah, but could you have done that when you were taking your first Bio class in high school? Stick with it and pretty soon you'll be playing all those great tunes and throwing in classy chord substitutions to boot!
Members ShesGotVerve Posted May 23, 2004 Author Members Posted May 23, 2004 Originally posted by Joe Merlino throwing in classy chord substitutions to boot! Oh damn, that sounds so sexy! I can't wait.....
Members Joe Merlino Posted May 23, 2004 Members Posted May 23, 2004 Originally posted by ShesGotVerve Oh damn, that sounds so sexy! I can't wait..... Chord subs are sexy. A good tritone sub is almost guaranteed to get you laid!
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