Posted by Mary Ann on February 19, 2004 at 17:24:13:
In Reply to: Re: An interesting lesson posted by Andy on February 19, 2004 at 10:25:26:
Obviously Mr. Jacobs was a wonderful teacher for you and for many other people. However, the same approach does not work for every student. Not only does everyone have a different embouchure, but everyone also has a different brain structure and learning focus (do you find calculus fun? do you visualize the solar system in 3D, with all the planets spinning on their axes, following the planes of their orbits? what other planets can be seen from them at night, whether they appear as crescents or full spheres?) Some people, when learning to hit a tennis ball, can just watch the instructor and imitate it perfectly. Others get zero useable information from watching the instructor, and have to be told verbally how to swing the racquet. They learn to play just as well, but learn in a completely different manner.
I need a different approach to be able to produce the sound I hear in my head. This new teacher of mine was able, over the course of about 30 minutes, by showing me _what_ to do, to get me to produce the sound I've heard in my head, that caused me to take up the instrument in the first place.
Now that I've seen _what_ to do, both from my teacher and in the mirror, heard what I heard, and produced what I produced, I actually have something to go on to get where I want to be. My practice sessions consist of playing simple exercises with exquisite attention to the sound, because when I hear the sound move away from what I want, I know I need to re-focus on the physical aspects of what I'm doing, because I am sliding back to what my body did in the past nine years, trying to get that same sound. But the body failed to find it on its own, which is why I need the kind of teacher I need. I've had other teachers who tried to _tell_ me what to do, others who tried to get me to "just reproduce the sound you hear in your head," but this is the very first one who _showed_ me what to do _in_detail_, and made sure I was able to do it before I left.
I decided to reply in detail, for others who learn the way I do, to let them know that if they aren't getting anywhere with their teacher, go try someone else, and someone else, until they do find somebody who is a good match.
MA