Latebloomers and New Players a Few questions if you don't mind! :)

[Bofonic]

Hi there everyone I was just hoping I could ask a few questions...


I'm a Woodwind teacher looking for ways to find making teaching my older students more enjoyable/trying to find different strategies to teach them (Everyone learns differently) I was hoping you could tell me...

1) What things do you struggle the most with it in terms of personal time (Job? Late hours? Disturbing neighbours?)


2) What things do you find the most difficult on a musical level? (Tone production/rhythm/scales? things like that)


3) Why did you decide to start playing?


4) What kind of music do you enjoy playing? (Jazz/Classical/movie?)


5) If you play Jazz..do you transcribe? If not...what do you feel is holding you back? Is this something that would interest you?


6) What sort of exercises/songs do you find the most enjoyable? (Might be some overlap with question 4 )


7) How do you tend to break up your practise time? What sort of things to you practise when you practise? How do you practise them and what do you find most difficult about practising? (If it's jazz do you improvise...? Transcibe?) (Classical- Reading? Scales?)


Do you ever look up new methods of practising or would finding new ones that are more efficient interest you?


8) Do you study with a teacher regularly or prefer self-learning? (Go in for a lesson...work on everything..come back when you're ready?) If you study with a teacher what do you enjoy about your lesson? What do you feel could be improved/would like to work on?


9) Have you tried any online resources/courses in your learning scope? Did you like them? What did you like/dislike about them if you did? What could have been improved? If you were to take a course online what would you ideally like to see?

10) What's your goal ? What would you eventually like to be able to do/play ?

 

[wanabe]

I am a bit giddy right now. I am just back from my first clarinet lesson. Yes, I am one of those old farts that has just now, at the age of 67 decided to learn the clarinet. I don't know that I can answer any of your questions, but I'll take a swing at a couple of them.

3) Why did you decide to start playing? - In my lifetime I played folk music on the guitar and bluegrass music on the guitar, mandolin, banjo and harmonica. I never got good at it and quite frankly, I considered the 50 year experiment a failure. In my retirement, forced on me by an illness, I started buying and selling things on that site where you bid on things. I found that one of the easiest things to make money on were musical instruments in general and clarinets in particular. So, in the process of buying and selling I learned that I would need to be able to play one in order to accurately determine the value of one, so here I am and I'm having a ball. I love learning new things and I believe that clarinets fit me much better than any stringed instrument, at least any stringed instrument that I have tried.

4) What kind of music do you enjoy playing? (Jazz/Classical/movie?) - I like to listen to clasical, I still like bluegrass and big band music really moves me. Klezmer and blues interest me too and to a lesser extent dixieland. There isn't too much room in a bluegrass band for a clarinet. I'd rather listen to than play classical. I don't have enough friends to start a big band, so I'll probably end up playing blues and if I get good enough some klezmer.

8) Do you study with a teacher regularly or prefer self-learning? (Go in for a lesson...work on everything..come back when you're ready?) If you study with a teacher what do you enjoy about your lesson? What do you feel could be improved/would like to work on? - I do plan on staying with a teacher. I am very happy with the one that I have now, but then again I have only had the one lesson. I never took a lesson with any of the other instruments that I have tried. Maybe that's why I did not have much success with them.

10) What's your goal ? What would you eventually like to be able to do/play ? - My goal is simple, to have fun, to not make this into work and some day be able to play Schuberts Ave Maria. I know I said that I only like to listen to classical, but that piece is just too beautiful.

 

[Gandalfe]

1) What things do you struggle the most with it in terms of personal time (Job? Late hours? Disturbing neighbours?) Distractions, business, and family conflicts.

2) What things do you find the most difficult on a musical level? (Tone production/rhythm/scales? things like that) Rhythm aka internal pulse.

3) Why did you decide to start playing? I started playing in 5th grade because Mom said I could. I returned to music 28 years later because I had more time.

4) What kind of music do you enjoy playing? (Jazz/Classical/movie?) Jazz mostly.

5) If you play Jazz..do you transcribe? If not...what do you feel is holding you back? Is this something that would interest you? I do transcriptions but not on the fly.

6) What sort of exercises/songs do you find the most enjoyable? (Might be some overlap with question 4 ) Playing against recordings, arpeggios, practicing duets and tonal exercises.

7) How do you tend to break up your practise time? What sort of things to you practise when you practise? How do you practise them and what do you find most difficult about practising? (If it's jazz do you improvise...? Transcibe?) (Classical- Reading? Scales?) 5 mins warms up overtones, long tones, tuneup, 15 minutes reading, 40 minutes working on the hard stuff.

Do you ever look up new methods of practising or would finding new ones that are more efficient interest you? No.

8) Do you study with a teacher regularly or prefer self-learning? (Go in for a lesson...work on everything..come back when you're ready?) If you study with a teacher what do you enjoy about your lesson? What do you feel could be improved/would like to work on? Studied with teachers, sometimes two at a time for ten years.

9) Have you tried any online resources/courses in your learning scope? Did you like them? What did you like/dislike about them if you did? What could have been improved? If you were to take a course online what would you ideally like to see? I use YouTube to do solos against or with performers. I like to play with the instructor, especially with duets.

10) What's your goal ? What would you eventually like to be able to do/play? I'd like to be better at reading changes, sightreading, and altissimo.