Where was YouTube when I started learning. To my disgust I was sent to a school where playing rugby was the highest honour you could aim for. Music was 40 minutes a week focused on the lowest denominator in the class, ie., a class to skive off in. So I taught myself, the way a lot of people did, by playing along with records. Then as I started to learn more and play with other people, we helped each other with licks and chords. I was musical and came from a musical family. I knew what worked instinctively, but I didn't know why. 10 years later I went to the Creative School of Musicianship where I studied everything from single string, to harmony, modes and other aspects of theory. Suddenly I understood why things worked. They still made it complicated, perhaps because of their studies at Berklee Music in Boston, or because of the books they modeled their courses around. I thought, why couldn't someone have shown me this when I first started? The videos you share, such as Chris Sherman and Simon Allaway are awesome. For which my thanks.
Out of all the things I do, the newsletter is still my favorite thing to sit down and write every week. It helps keep my own chops sharp, both as a player and a teacher. So rather than doom scroll or watch horrible content, I watch this stuff instead! My own music lessons back in high school were similar to yours - the teachers tried as hard as they could, but you'd always have some students who just didn't care. The guys who really wanted to be better as musicians went into the practice rooms or even equipment closets to jam along with each other. I still miss those days.
Yep, there were workarounds. There was always the school band. I had perfect pitch and the band leader wanted me to learn violin, but I had already seen that the boys who did violin often got beaten up. I took up clarinet, and being the only guitarist, got to play guitar as well. So I got to perform in school concerts and go on music trips, making friends along the way.
Where was YouTube when I started learning. To my disgust I was sent to a school where playing rugby was the highest honour you could aim for. Music was 40 minutes a week focused on the lowest denominator in the class, ie., a class to skive off in. So I taught myself, the way a lot of people did, by playing along with records. Then as I started to learn more and play with other people, we helped each other with licks and chords. I was musical and came from a musical family. I knew what worked instinctively, but I didn't know why. 10 years later I went to the Creative School of Musicianship where I studied everything from single string, to harmony, modes and other aspects of theory. Suddenly I understood why things worked. They still made it complicated, perhaps because of their studies at Berklee Music in Boston, or because of the books they modeled their courses around. I thought, why couldn't someone have shown me this when I first started? The videos you share, such as Chris Sherman and Simon Allaway are awesome. For which my thanks.
Out of all the things I do, the newsletter is still my favorite thing to sit down and write every week. It helps keep my own chops sharp, both as a player and a teacher. So rather than doom scroll or watch horrible content, I watch this stuff instead! My own music lessons back in high school were similar to yours - the teachers tried as hard as they could, but you'd always have some students who just didn't care. The guys who really wanted to be better as musicians went into the practice rooms or even equipment closets to jam along with each other. I still miss those days.
Yep, there were workarounds. There was always the school band. I had perfect pitch and the band leader wanted me to learn violin, but I had already seen that the boys who did violin often got beaten up. I took up clarinet, and being the only guitarist, got to play guitar as well. So I got to perform in school concerts and go on music trips, making friends along the way.