# Changed bass instructors - big difference!



## RonP

I started with a new instructor in December and while he was a qualified guy, I was feeling frustrated during lessons. His main gig was with a military ensemble and professor of bass at a local university with some private lessons given as time permitted. I somehow felt as though his approach was geared towards college students and not somewhat newbies like me.

A friend referred me to another instructor who graduated from Julliard and performed with a prfessional orchestra. I managed to sneak in a trial lesson when my main lesson got cancelled one week and the difference was impressive. The second instructor was more skilled at dealing with beginning player issues and I felt more at ease. So I made the switch immediately.

I've been with the new instructor for a month and even I can notice the difference in tone. The bass doesn't always sound like I'm strangling a cow and I'm more inspired to practice. The plan from here is to search for an ensemble to gain some practical experience while I continue on with my lessons.


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## Lunasong

Glad you had the courage to make the change and get the instruction style you require.


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## RonP

After all, it's my money and if I feel I'm not getting the service I think I deserve, then it's time to find someone who will provide it.


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## arpeggio

RonP,

I know who you are talking about. My son studied with him and had the same problems. He is a great player but...

arpeggio

I still know of an orchestra that would be more that happy to let you sit in on rehearsals. Send me a private message if you are interested.


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## RonP

Had another lesson last night and I am more convinced than ever that I made the right call by switching instructors. I started the lesson by reviewing some observations I had about my playing during the week - namely that my playing was too staccato and I had some timing issues. The latter is a matter of metronome work, but she worked with me on the former and I found two things. The first was that I was still using too much bow for teh note in question and second was the my left hand wasn't shifting smoothly. We worked on those and the etude I was working on flowed much better by the end of the lesson.

She's been wanting me to include more dynamics in my practice and then showed me how to do it by using more bow (instead of adding pressure as I used to do). And finally, she corrected my right arm position the keep the pressure on the bow more even as I got closer to the tip.

I still need a lot of help with sight reading, but that's just a matter of time and practice.


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## Downbeat

RonP said:


> I started with a new instructor in December and while he was a qualified guy, I was feeling frustrated during lessons. His main gig was with a military ensemble and professor of bass at a local university with some private lessons given as time permitted. I somehow felt as though his approach was geared towards college students and not somewhat newbies like me.
> 
> A friend referred me to another instructor who graduated from Julliard and performed with a prfessional orchestra. I managed to sneak in a trial lesson when my main lesson got cancelled one week and the difference was impressive. The second instructor was more skilled at dealing with beginning player issues and I felt more at ease. So I made the switch immediately.
> 
> I've been with the new instructor for a month and even I can notice the difference in tone. The bass doesn't always sound like I'm strangling a cow and I'm more inspired to practice. The plan from here is to search for an ensemble to gain some practical experience while I continue on with my lessons.


My experience was the wrong way around. My first cello teacher was a marvel to me...played in the London Philharmonic so she was quite happy to vent all that creative energy she had to swallow up as an orchestral player. She was also excellent with beginners. I was then switched to a teacher who was all about technique. Very boring!

Choosing a good teacher is incredibly important...it depends on the personality of the teacher/student, the level of musicianship, synergy, amongst others. The changed brought about a rejection of classical music for me at the time...shame.


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## PetrB

If a teacher cannot satisfactorily communicate to you what you need to know to achieve a certain tone, technique, etc (it is ALL about technique, folks, no matter how you slice it) then it is time to seek another. The reason is simple, you are not then grasping "what you are going for." and practicing either wrongly or in the dark, repetitively for a week!

There have been some famous pianists who taught, and were infamously bad teachers. Egon Petri and Artur Schnabel. Both had students "sneaking around the corner" doubling lessons with another teacher, who could explain, in the case of Schnabel, what exactly he was driving at: in the case of Petri, who was a player with a natural technique, there were simply no instructions or explanations, because he had never had to think about 'problems' enough to figure out how to articulate what they were, or how to correct them.

In addition, one has to feel some agreement, affinity, with the teacher, and vice versa. There should be a spontanious respect from the student if the teacher is 'right,' more than a mere nodding academic sort of respect merely because the teacher is more advanced. Some teachers have absolutely everything you need, and the skill to communicate it, but you really do not get along. And so it goes.

More than one performer or advanced musician hangs up a shingle as a teacher but is not very interested in other than the most advanced of students, yet they take any and all because they need the income: others are more ready and willing to give even a beginner the proper attention. Some, certificates aside, still have no gift for teaching and are doing it but grudgingly, again, the income being their prime motivation. 

All the needed information and help, and the ability to communicate it can be present, but something else must 'click' on some level between student / teacher as well.

I'm told "shopping" for an effective shrink is rift with similar dynamics...

So it is shop that one must do, at any level. The teacher who is fantastic and getting superb results for an acquaintance may, or may not, be the one for you.


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