When I was 38 I wanted to improve my playing and sought out Richard Wilson in L.A. After weeks of leaving messages on his answering machine, I found out where he lived and drove from Venice to the Valley. About an hour through traffic. When I got there I saw a car parked in front of his house and figured he had a student so I waited. Eventually the student came out and I went to the door and told him who I was and that I had left him messages and wanted to study with him. He said lots of people want to study with him and why should he teach me. I told him because I wanted to play better. He said, "Really?" I replied, "Why else would I want to study with you?" He answered, "Lots of guys want to me to get them into studio work or they want to play with a certain popular band." I told him that I was already with a band and just want to play better. He said ok, and I took a lesson every two weeks for the next 2 yrs. By the end of the two years, I was blazingly fast and realized that speed isn't what I wanted, I wanted accuracy and the ability to play spontaneously whatever came into my mind. Fortunately, that was part of the package. It's also amazing what 6 hrs. a day with a metronome will do for your time and accuracy, although that did make it difficult to play with musicians whose time wasn't together. We went through about 5 bass players in a year until we found the right guy.
I think he was more shocked than appreciative. Not an easy guy to study with. One day he yelled at me because I wasn't getting it and I said, "Richard, I won't get it any faster if you yell at me." He looked surprised and said, "Oh, was I yelling? I'm sorry." He never yelled again. Another time he wanted me to learn a complex Steve Gadd lick and I told him that in the time it took me to learn and play it well, I could make up my own lick. He agreed and I made one up that satisfied him. He was accustomed to drummers who wanted to play like other drummers and I didn't come from that school since 1958.
Right on, Su. I once had a student bring me a roast chicken as payment. With the stipulation that it be roasted by themselves. Not store bought. I wanted them to invest the time and the focus of why they were doing this. To have "skin" in the game. Crispy skin.
I am wanting to pass on my moderately eccentric and eclectic knowledge of music, gained as a DJ and enthusiast not as a musician, in the form of my collection and various bits’n’pieces of relevant printed material. However, I’m finding it tricky partially I think because there simply isn’t that much interest in my generally pre-digital and localized adventures. The exploring continues. Anyone with ideas about how to get this “stuff” to the right place, please feel free to let me know any old way that is convenient for you. I have been thinking in the direction of university archives of “pop” culture, but am wide open to anything practical.
What you need is an intern, or an apprentice. The former is found only in University settings, and the latter seems to be a concept lost to the ages, unfortunately.
When I was 38 I wanted to improve my playing and sought out Richard Wilson in L.A. After weeks of leaving messages on his answering machine, I found out where he lived and drove from Venice to the Valley. About an hour through traffic. When I got there I saw a car parked in front of his house and figured he had a student so I waited. Eventually the student came out and I went to the door and told him who I was and that I had left him messages and wanted to study with him. He said lots of people want to study with him and why should he teach me. I told him because I wanted to play better. He said, "Really?" I replied, "Why else would I want to study with you?" He answered, "Lots of guys want to me to get them into studio work or they want to play with a certain popular band." I told him that I was already with a band and just want to play better. He said ok, and I took a lesson every two weeks for the next 2 yrs. By the end of the two years, I was blazingly fast and realized that speed isn't what I wanted, I wanted accuracy and the ability to play spontaneously whatever came into my mind. Fortunately, that was part of the package. It's also amazing what 6 hrs. a day with a metronome will do for your time and accuracy, although that did make it difficult to play with musicians whose time wasn't together. We went through about 5 bass players in a year until we found the right guy.
"I want to study with you so I can play better" - what a novel idea! I'll bet he appreciated that.
I think he was more shocked than appreciative. Not an easy guy to study with. One day he yelled at me because I wasn't getting it and I said, "Richard, I won't get it any faster if you yell at me." He looked surprised and said, "Oh, was I yelling? I'm sorry." He never yelled again. Another time he wanted me to learn a complex Steve Gadd lick and I told him that in the time it took me to learn and play it well, I could make up my own lick. He agreed and I made one up that satisfied him. He was accustomed to drummers who wanted to play like other drummers and I didn't come from that school since 1958.
Right on, Su. I once had a student bring me a roast chicken as payment. With the stipulation that it be roasted by themselves. Not store bought. I wanted them to invest the time and the focus of why they were doing this. To have "skin" in the game. Crispy skin.
Now that's thinking outside the coop!
Heh-heh-heh. Thanks for the laugh. It was needed, and appreciated.
I am wanting to pass on my moderately eccentric and eclectic knowledge of music, gained as a DJ and enthusiast not as a musician, in the form of my collection and various bits’n’pieces of relevant printed material. However, I’m finding it tricky partially I think because there simply isn’t that much interest in my generally pre-digital and localized adventures. The exploring continues. Anyone with ideas about how to get this “stuff” to the right place, please feel free to let me know any old way that is convenient for you. I have been thinking in the direction of university archives of “pop” culture, but am wide open to anything practical.
What you need is an intern, or an apprentice. The former is found only in University settings, and the latter seems to be a concept lost to the ages, unfortunately.
Hi Su. Schoenberg writes in the preface to his theory of harmony book "I have learned this book from my students". Much love......Michael
I often feel that way....it's through the students' struggles with the material we present that we ourselves evolve!