Author: SilverHare
Date: 2006-04-24 18:02
Susan;
You've raised some serious points, things I haven't thought about for years. Let me address them as best I can.
Yes, I can vocally replicate a pitch. I did okay on the piano with (blind) identifying intervals and keys of chords. Not so good on individual notes...no better than chance, really. (As a side note, I do business in Japan. I have a poor voice but karaoke is required sometimes. Despite my nasal and untrained voice, I can generally "trick" the machines into giving me a high score because as long as it's a song I know well, I can hit the notes and match the phrasing, which is how those machines seem to judge the score--the fact I don't sound great seems to be ignored!)
None of my teachers offered any real advice in terms of what my major problem was, other than a sort of generic "it's just not 'clicking' for you". And I agree, I felt that way.
Not rhythm challenged at all, perhaps it's my only ability! I used to help the drummer in my high school band figure out drum lines. He said I should be a drummer but I wasn't interested.
The concept of going up and down tonally via mechanical manipulations is not hard for me to grasp at all.
I'm not great at learning by ear. I had to on the bass of course, since we didn't have sheet music for the Rolling Stones! But I needed a lot of help from the guitarist and keyboardist who were skilled musicians. So I'd say it's not a strong ability in me.
Now that the folks here have helped my build my nerve, I'll call the teacher today and schedule a first lesson. I'll suggest the idea I might need some of the remedial work you describe. My wife says the teacher sounds like a smart and funny lady so I'm hoping for the best!
I've ordered the book you suggested. Sounds interesting....
Thanks for taking the time to think about this and offer suggestions, I really appreciate it.
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