arbarnhart
Jun-01-2005, 8:32am
I have been learning from books, CDs, DVDs, tabs and volunteers at jams for a little while. I have background in guitar and piano, so I already knew how to read music and strum and fret and whatnot, so it is going pretty well. But I feel like I am kind of scatter gunning; playing a little of this, then that, scales some days, picking melodies by ear others, various chord progressions and I tend to tailor today's practice toward the next jam, which has alternated between blues (neighbors with guitars) and bluegrass (local beginner get together). So I decided to look into lessons. There are a couple of local music schools that are somewhat curriculum based, but that doesn't appeal to me.
I found someone who appears to be a good match - Bett Padgett (http://www.bettpadgett.com/bett_padgett.htm). She is a local folk musician who sings, plays guitar, mando family instruments, piano and percussion. She did all the instruments on some of her CDs (http://www.bettpadgett.com/Ceilidhe%20Music.htm) and she teaches music at a local university. Her studio is near my office and she has some weekday time slots open. The price is right.
Here is a snippet from her site:
From beginners to folks who have played for many years! Bett enjoys teaching all levels in many styles, primarily rhythm, finger style, open and alternate tunings. Folk, country and pop music, a little jazz, always trying to find new interesting arrangements for old songs. She mostly enjoys helping folks learn the kind of music they want to learn, and especially helping songwriters with their own music, guiding them through the process with theory and many rhythmic choices and styles.
Her music is different than what I want to play, but she has taught others in different genres and there really aren't many acoustic blues mandolin teachers anyway (what I want to play most, though I will also play some bluegrass, Celtic, classical, jazz, pop, carols and anything else that gets in the mix known as my mind). Anyway, what questions would you ask? How do you evaluate potential teachers? At this point, my gut says sign on for a few lessons and see how it goes.
I found someone who appears to be a good match - Bett Padgett (http://www.bettpadgett.com/bett_padgett.htm). She is a local folk musician who sings, plays guitar, mando family instruments, piano and percussion. She did all the instruments on some of her CDs (http://www.bettpadgett.com/Ceilidhe%20Music.htm) and she teaches music at a local university. Her studio is near my office and she has some weekday time slots open. The price is right.
Here is a snippet from her site:
From beginners to folks who have played for many years! Bett enjoys teaching all levels in many styles, primarily rhythm, finger style, open and alternate tunings. Folk, country and pop music, a little jazz, always trying to find new interesting arrangements for old songs. She mostly enjoys helping folks learn the kind of music they want to learn, and especially helping songwriters with their own music, guiding them through the process with theory and many rhythmic choices and styles.
Her music is different than what I want to play, but she has taught others in different genres and there really aren't many acoustic blues mandolin teachers anyway (what I want to play most, though I will also play some bluegrass, Celtic, classical, jazz, pop, carols and anything else that gets in the mix known as my mind). Anyway, what questions would you ask? How do you evaluate potential teachers? At this point, my gut says sign on for a few lessons and see how it goes.