A disheartening memory

[Carolyn]

I wanted to share a disheartening memory that I had in a years’ ago fiddle lesson. It made me feel bad, but I took value away from the experience, for when I help or teach someone else with music.
I had started lessons with a very skilled and talented fiddler. Things were going ok, about 3 lessons in. I worked up Midnight on the Water by ear, and it sounded so sweet to me. Not bad! At the beginning of the lesson I told her and played it for her. She went, “Oh! This?” and proceeded to play the tune as a master, with all the lilts and slurs and double stops. She might have convinced herself that it was inspiration for me, but instead, I felt humiliated. Years ago! And the emotion and memory is still right there!
I keep that in mind, if I’m ever in the teacher’s seat.

[Owen]

Carolyn,

How strange for a teacher to act like that! But you are here now, and that sort of thing is exactly opposite of what the “game plan” here appears to be. Hope you have some fun playing this week, Carolyn!

Owen

[Carolyn]

Thank you for your words. I’m sure she wasn’t aware of the effect. At least, I’m hoping that she wasn’t just showing off!
I’m excited to work my way past feeling like a beginner. I enjoyed seeing you play the banshee tune.

I tried to put a profile pic up instead of the frowny square face, but I’ll have to work on it some more later.

[Nick Wilkins]

Hi Carolyn

I can totally identify with that, both as a learner of other things and as a University teacher myself. Knowing how to do something, and teaching that thing, can often be two very separate matters. It’s a joy for all when they both occur in the same space and time, but my experience, after some 40 years of teaching, is that that happens disappointingly infrequently.

Jason is, in my opinion, one of the best teachers on the ‘net [I cannot understand for the life of me why he hasn’t got far more subscribers – I’m in the UK and I can think of an English tutor who isn’t nearly so good – and who I don’t even think plays very well – but who has over half a million subscribers].

What’s good is your note about taking your learner experience into your teaching; I think that makes your students very fortunate!

[lisab_1964]

@Carolyn, do you remember the conversation that came after the former teacher finished playing?

[Carolyn]

She just sort of smiled and went on with the lesson while I was just quiet then.

But an interesting follow up. Probably a dozen years or so after the month of lessons I had with her, I’d moved, and turns out she has family in this area and moved up here too. She is a part of the larger musical community I’m in. My music buddy (who is a newer fiddle player) was telling me what it was like having her in a jam. He would start a song in a tempo he could manage, but then after a bit, she would basically take the tempo away from him and play it faster than he could have a hope of playing.
Hard to figure; impatience? Show-off? Clueless? Anyway, feels better to be in a club than the only one.

[Carolyn]

(“Be in a club” as in, more than just me who got the wind taken from my sails)

[Author]

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