mandolin teacher dead zone

[dusty miller]

I live in a apparent mandolin teacher dead zone in east pa.I have been trying to teach myself off and on for about seven years with bouts of frustration causing me to put the mandolin down at times untill I found all the great resources like this one on the internet.I thought I found a teacher once but I ended up showing him a bunch of things.Of course it would be helpfull at times to have someone hands on but I make do.I find happiness in what I can play and continue to plug away at learning.Does anyone else have this problem? And thanks to everyone on this forum helps people like me get more enjoyment out of the mandolin........Kristopher

[OldSausage]

Well, what about Mike Marshall? He's in everyone's town and he's great.

http://artistworks.com/mandolin-lessons-mike-marshall

[MikeEdgerton]

I live in a apparent mandolin teacher dead zone in east pa.I have been trying to teach myself off and on for about seven years with bouts of frustration causing me to put the mandolin down at times untill I found all the great resources like this one on the internet.I thought I found a teacher once but I ended up showing him a bunch of things.Of course it would be helpfull at times to have someone hands on but I make do.I find happiness in what I can play and continue to plug away at learning.Does anyone else have this problem? And thanks to everyone on this forum helps people like me get more enjoyment out of the mandolin.

A lot of people have the problem. What town do you live in? There might be somebody that someone knows near you. If you're far enough east there might be someone in Jersey or New York or elsewhere that can be recommended.

By the way, I hate going to see a teacher and finding out you know more about the instrument than they do.

[dusty miller]

Very true.I guess I could say he is my mandolin teacher.I found out you could try to learn from worse.
More

[dusty miller]

I live very close to nj and ny, the pocono mountains,and that was horrible being excited to find a teacher and showing him how to play some things.No offense to guitar players but just because you play guitar doesn't mean you can teach mandolin.No Offense meant! I have to do some more searching I guess but after a some years you just do the self teach thing.

[dusty miller]

I guess finding people who are better than you are to play with in person would accelerate my playing and enjoyment......Kris

[SternART]

I'm with oldsausage........I'll second Mike Marshall via the internet!!!! Check it out, there are some sample lessons for free.

[Mike Romkey]

Mike Compton is a good teacher, as is Adam Steffey, both offering one-on-one real-time lessons on the web. Nothing against MM's school, but it involves exchanging recorded videos instead of direct contact. (Or it did when I was a student.) PM me if want contact info. - MR

[Marc Berman]

Dusty,

I sent you a PM.

[SternART]

I hear what you're saying Mike Romkey......Individual lessons..... one on one from an instructor like Compton or Steffey are very cool too, but you pay by the hour.....and that can add up.

I think bang for the buck, it is hard to beat the value you get from artistworks with Mike Marshall! There are dozens of archived lessons at all skill levels, and you can see all the other students videos and Mike's responses. So you can learn from the other students videos that are sent in & the thoughtful, long responses by Mike too. It is kinda like a Masters class, you get to see the instructor interact with the other students too. I've never sent in a video & have learned a lot. There are different genres too, bluegrass, folk, classical, swing & jazz & even some choro & Dawg music. Whatever students are interested in & ask about in their videos, Mike responds. There is a ton of stuff archived on there, and you can go back & review over & over stop & start the videos, etc. And the price is by the month, so you can put in as many hours as you want, if you have the time to put in, you get a lot back for your money.

[Jim Garber]

What music genres are you interested in? That might also help to find someone. You could also post a teacher want ad in the classifieds.

[mandotool]

Back in the olden times when i was a teen ..(late 70's) i used to do a 5 hr round trip to study Monroe style playing w/ Andy Statman..
from North Jersey to Sheepshead Bay Brooklyn..
MHO..Mike Compton is hands down the way to go for Monroe style..( if thats yer thing)

[jim simpson]

I just found this from a post dated Dec-07-2009 from me:

I used to take lessons from Tracy Rice at Clemmer Music,
764 Harleysville Pike Telford, PA. Phone: 215-723-4813
Tracy used to play with the Sunnyside Gospel Bluegrass band. He also teaches guitar. I haven't talk to him since I moved out of PA a couple of years ago.

I would try Tracy if he's still teaching.

[Rodney Riley]

Back in the olden times when i was a teen ..(late 70's) i used to do a 5 hr round trip...

5 hours @ 55 miles per hour(implemented 1974)=275 Miles. 16 mpg (1970 Dodge Super Bee, 383 Magnum 4-speed)= 17.1 gal. x $0.57(1975)=$9.79, x $0.59(1976)=$10.09, x $0.62(1977)=$10.60, x $0.63(1978)=$10.77 or x $0.86(1979)=$14.70

275 miles 23 mpg(2008 Dodge Charger, 5.7L Automatic)= 12 gal x $3.75(pumps in town today) $45.00

Just sayin....

(1971 when I bought my first car (The Bee) gas was $0.36 a gallon. 2 lane highway speed limit was 65 mph and interstates were 70 mph )

[Bob Clark]

Hey Kristopher (Dusty),

I have two really good mandolin instructors to recommend, one in Philadelphia and the other in very near-by NJ. If you're interested, drop me a PM and I'll put you in touch with them. I have had lessons from each of them and can highly recommend them. The two differ from each other, so one may suit you better than the other, depending on your needs.

Bob

[mandotool]

i took the (bus $.75 cents) to the (NYC subway..$.50 cents)....round trip $2.50
He also let me record all his Monroe LP's onto cassette...( priceless )..

[Muddy Mike]

Try Meadowood Music in Blandon, PA. I've been taking lessons from Mike Andrews and have been very happy with his knowledge and my results.

[Rodney Riley]

i took the (bus $.75 cents) to the (NYC subway..$.50 cents)....round trip $2.50
He also let me record all his Monroe LP's onto cassette...( priceless )..

Nearest bus was 20 miles away from me. And that was Greyhound. Closest inner city bus was 50 miles away. Passenger service on the B&O and Nickel Plate was long gone by the 70's. Active train station was 20 miles away also. It's still here in Effingham were I live now. I did get a bloody finger makin Guitar for Christmas 1969. Didn't get a mandolin until 2001. (Ha, got the required mando content in this post! ) Better get those cassettes transferred to CD's. If you can find the equipment to do it with.

[JeffD]

Back in the olden times when i was a teen ..(late 70's) i used to do a 5 hr round trip to study Monroe style playing w/ Andy Statman..
from North Jersey to Sheepshead Bay Brooklyn..
MHO..Mike Compton is hands down the way to go for Monroe style..( if thats yer thing)

Yee Hah! I bet it was great.

I think you'll find many folks who have gone that extra effort to pursue a passion. Regularly driving insane miles for an instructor, or a jam, or to see a concert. Especially when we are young and in the initial "I really might be able to do this" enthusiasm of it all. I stayed up most of the night every night for many weeks, in Scotland and Ireland, three years running, transcribing tunes from a cassette recorder and learning them.