QUOTE(little ice @ Apr 11 2008, 01:01 PM)
yamaha courses are pretty good on play by ears. they don't advertise as such but they do train your ears as part of their courses. they're especially useful if you train since small kid.
andy would you roughly describe what kind of stuffs Play By Ears will teach?
Well, let's be fair, all courses are good. It all falls in each persons need and views.
The "Play By Ear" course I mentioned was meant for contemporary/pop songs. For those who wish to learn classical would not be suitable but of course you can also took up both.
There're many types of modern teaching methods which are suitable for contemporary songs, this "Play By Ear" is just another, but it is founded by our own local Malaysian, and he has created many proven formula and teaching method.
Basically, this "Play By Ear" teaches you music, how to capture melody, creating chords based on melody, feeling and hearing, etc via an instrument, currently the Piano/Keyboard, and soon to be available eletric and bass guitar.
You don't learn notes, of course you can learn, but you don't rely on notes. For in depth note reading and sight reading, you'll have to pickup yourself but it isn't recommended in the course as they don't encourage you to read notes.
How they teach you is to let you listen to a song, and you learn how to create the melody and they slowly "GUIDE" you how to understand and creating chords.
The 1st level will only have 20 classes, teaching you the 3 major chord mainly, which is enough to play many songs. They also allow you to choose 1 or 2 song of your own and they'll guide you on how to go play it, create your own arrangement, styles, etc.
Level 2 is more on bassing ideas, accompaniment, etc. In level 2 you'll learn about all other chords, but it's tough for me as yuo'll start to learn a lot on the left hand bassing idea, which I believe many have trouble with the left hand. You'll also learn many different styles like Latin, Jazz, etc...
I haven't take up Level 3 yet, personally, I feel my playing isn't smooth and good enough. Because of that, I'm struggling in level 2 trying to coordinate both my left and right hands. But I can say level 2 open up a lot of possibilities and more in depth understanding, much much more than Level 1. Level 1 is more for total beginners, but you explore many different style of playing, arrangements and they let you be creative and create your own style for each song. So for each song, you'll see different style from each person, which is nice.
If you want to know more, just inquire for a preview, they don't charge you anyway. They also have a VCD explaining about their courses, etc.
Anyway, it's an interesting to find out and learn, I just want to share it out and hope more people can learn music in their own fun way. For me, I love to play contemporary songs, or should say, when I listen to a song, I feel like playing it on the piano. This course is very suitable for me.
There're also some which has dropped out from conventional piano lessons which they find no interest mainly because they wanted to play contemporary songs only but they hardly get a chance to understand and play, also some which has been confused, once took up the course for few classes, suddenly everything become so clear. So, for this, I can say, the have learnt a lot but they need someone who can help them fix the puzzle.
So maybe for those having problem after years of learning, might want have a look at it and then decide.
Anybody watch Mr. Holland Opus? It was recommended by the founder, I watch it and was very touched by it. Here's some of the quote from the movie:
"Playing music is supposed to be fun. It's about heart, it's about feelings, moving people, and something beautiful, and it's not about notes on a page. I can teach you notes on a page, I can't teach you that other stuff. "
"A teacher has two jobs; fill young minds with knowledge, yes, but more important, give those minds a compass so that that knowledge doesn't go to waste."
"If You Can't Teach a Willing Student Like Louis Russ to Bang a Drum, Then You Are a Lousy Teacher"!
The story is about a composer who needed money and became a teacher, at first he has no passion or heart to teach, but soon, he changed and become someone who has changed many lives, but given up his dream of being a composer. There's a scene where he try to help a girl having problem with her clarinet, where he finally found she's not having fun and very stressed, hence the 1st quote above.
Apr 11 2008, 12:04 PM
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