I was listening to Hugh Laurie on the radio a few days ago on Desert Island discs and he made the statement that he had a number of piano lessons as a kid but gave up having the lessons and carried on learning by himself.
He is a good amateur player and I suppose that now you could say he is a good professional as he has two best-selling albums out but the point that he went on to say was that when his children had lessons the way that music was taught was still as bad.
I see lots of music teaching and because of the way that schools function and I would in this respect point the finger at independent and grammar schools in particular, the focus on the classical style puts most children off learning an instrument altogether.
For me learning classical music was like doing a Shakespeare play whereas playing contempory music such as rock, blues and jazz was like having a chat and learning to become fluent in the language and carrying that analogy further most do not like Shakespeare they would rather have a chat with their mates.
So pick and an instrument and start talking through it.
Vic
www.bluescampuk.co.uk
three days playing in a rock band
He is a good amateur player and I suppose that now you could say he is a good professional as he has two best-selling albums out but the point that he went on to say was that when his children had lessons the way that music was taught was still as bad.
I see lots of music teaching and because of the way that schools function and I would in this respect point the finger at independent and grammar schools in particular, the focus on the classical style puts most children off learning an instrument altogether.
For me learning classical music was like doing a Shakespeare play whereas playing contempory music such as rock, blues and jazz was like having a chat and learning to become fluent in the language and carrying that analogy further most do not like Shakespeare they would rather have a chat with their mates.
So pick and an instrument and start talking through it.
Vic
www.bluescampuk.co.uk
three days playing in a rock band
