concerning teachers....

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Rudy Mueller
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concerning teachers....

Post by Rudy Mueller »

One of our local players ( if Kurt is # 10-15 [...as Ludwig says], this guy is definitely # 25-30) recently took a lesson from a world renowned zitherist from Germany at a Midwest congress. After he presented his opening background piece, the expert said " that is a most wonderful and beautiful piece of music.....but not the way you played it......

...Schmaarn.

How does one encourage a student? Those that can, do. Those that cannot, teach.

rudi

......Whew it's hot in here .....I'll have to dig out this classic rebuttal, (as I recall; from Fun Fare, Reader's Digest, 1950???) by Heifitz
Rudy Mueller
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Joined: Thu Sep 08, 2011 8:33 am
Location: Grafton WI 53024 RMUELLERMKE@GMAIL.COM

Re: concerning teachers....

Post by Rudy Mueller »

In today's New York Times (electronic) there is an editorial by dam Grant entitled "Those who can do, can't teach"!

I rest my case.

rudi
Rudy Mueller
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Joined: Thu Sep 08, 2011 8:33 am
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Re: concerning teachers....

Post by Rudy Mueller »

ooops. that's Adam Grant!
velocio
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Location: CA 93449

Re: concerning teachers....

Post by velocio »

Meant to post this for some time, already. When I decided to learn to play the Zither (as a “retirement project”, seven years ago) the first teacher I found (in Germany) received me with the words (seriously frowning) “I don’t understand what you want - it makes no sense! It takes 20 years to learn to play the Zither appropriately, und you are way too old for it: if I would explain something, you would have forgotten about it by the time you get home!” (and so on).
Needless to say, he couldn’t get rid of me so easily; since then, we befriended each other and often laughed about this first encounter.
He just wanted to avoid wasting his time with students who are not sufficiently self-motivated, and he wanted to avoid them the experience of getting discouraged and failing, for lack of determination...
NutmegCT
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Re: concerning teachers....

Post by NutmegCT »

Velocio - thank you!

So you've been learning zither for only seven years. Bravo! And you're very lucky to have a real zither teacher!

Were/are you traveling to Germany for your lessons?

Could you tell us how exactly you started? did you use a "zither method" book? What exercises and examples did your teacher give you when you first started?

Your teacher's statement "It takes 20 years ..." is a good way to test determination! But here's a zitherist who obviously hasn't studied for twenty years -

https://youtu.be/n2N5RXvzhrs

I think you're the first person on the forum to start later in life and actually have a teacher to work with. Self-motivation is the key. But motivation dies quickly when the student makes little progress and works alone. How about sharing a video of your playing at this stage?

Thanks!
Tom M.
Carmen
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Re: concerning teachers....

Post by Carmen »

Hi everyone!
I am very sad, that you had those ähm... Throwing back experiences with (mostly German) teachers.
I am also a german University Trained Zither Teacher but would never tell a student such things.
We teachers are here to encourage our students. I am more than happy that you folks from far far away are hopping on the train to Zither magic land.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!!! If you need help, please also do so! And if you need any supplies, or lessons, or are searching for a Monthly Zither online Grouplesson, aso. Please ask. I am putting up international Zither courses and Online Grouplessons right now.

Have a lovely day,
Happy zithering,
Carmen
happy zithering,
Carmen
University trained Zither teacher

carmenamrein@yahoo.de
Discover the magic of playing Zither free FB group: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=D ... g%20Zither
carmen-amrein.de
zithermagic.com
kenbloom
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Re: concerning teachers....

Post by kenbloom »

When I began to learn to play zither I was in San Francisco and couldn't find a teacher at the time. This was in 1972 and the only book I could find was the Darr method. I struggled with that for a while. I found a Rudi Knabl record while I was on tour with a singer and he was mostly playing solo on it. That inspired me to continue. I am mostly self taught but I did finally manage to find some help when I got to Chicago from Ludwig Karlbrunner and Rudy Wacek. It was Ludwig that introduced me to the Willy Hintermeyer books for the right hand and that opened up a whole new world for me. I think my approach to the instrument is rather different from most, in that I play very little German music. I say to anyone, this is a great instrument that can play anything. I am mostly a blues and jazz player on it as well as some folk material. I always tell people it's perfect for those "who don't get on well with others" or "the band in your hand". Pluck on.

Ken Bloom
http://www.boweddulcimer.org
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