working from a mental map and the step-by-step approach
Hi David,
Once again, I'd like to set out a couple of ideas and ask where you are on them.
Your BluesHarmonica site is a great example of a step-by-step learning method in which someone can start from scratch and ultimately attain the highest level of proficiency in a subject, in this case blues harmonica. Just a fact.
Interestingly, the structure you've created works well for someone like myself who has a learning approach whereby I like (in fact, probably need) to get a feel for the overall subject area before working on cementing understanding and building proficiency in particular areas. That is to say, I like to be very familiar with the map before I embark on the journey and that the concept of the journey becomes slightly different - of course, the adventure of learning blues harmonica is still a journey, but it can also be seen as a process of consolidation. I've worked through a lot of the lesson content on the site and worked on technique, etc. as I've gone along and now after a few months working daily on material on the site I feel I've a pretty good idea of how things fit together on it - and, because the site is so thorough, by extrapolation how things sit (or don't sit) within the language of blues harmonica. I should say that I already play a couple of other instruments and that means I already have a workable mental framework in which to place blues harmonica.
On several occasions in later lessons (i.e. intermediate and advanced lessons) you introduce the lesson by saying that students may have come to the lesson while not actually being at that level but even so they can get certain benefits from studying the lesson. Furthermore, you also give the lessons alphabetically so students can work through different techniques such as bending and other elements of blues harmonica in a block, so you clearly take into account different styles of learning and approaches to learning within the site.
I also appreciate that as far as individual subject areas are concerned, there is a fairly logical order in which to learn elements - no point trying to learn slaps and pulls if you haven't already learned basic tongue blocking. No point discussing the merits/application of the lydian mode if you haven't already grasped the major scale (ionian mode), etc.
So here are the questions - which were prompted in part by your recent reply to wahoo's "butterfield" posting in this Ask instructor..." forum where you speak about not charging through the LOA and enjoying the journey. In your years of teaching and in the course of creating the site and the LOA programme (and before that your books and masterclass lessons, etc, etc, etc!!!) have you found that the step-by-step approach (which might perhaps be characterised as a linear approach?) is actually more effective as a teaching/study method than the mental overview and consolidation type approach that I've indicated? And do you adopt different teaching methods with your private students where you can take into account their individual backgrounds, understanding and so on and perhaps then jump around rather more than might be expected by, for example, the layout of the LOA programme?
Hope you managed to stay awake through all that! And look forward to any comments you might have.
Peter
Hi David, many thanks for your reply. As always, very enlightening.
As far as analysis paralysis is concerned, I've found the framework you've created made it very easy to quickly find my way into the material and dig into studying and practising blues harmonica. I'd say having got that overview the particular approach that works for me is the mix approach you mention whereby I work at the edge of my capabilities but periodically return to lessons that are at an earlier level but which offer their own challenges and rewards - focusing on tone and dynamics, for example, and sometimes adding techniques that you've taught in later lessons.
Just as an aside, the thorough nature of your teaching even makes sense of making forays into the YouTube harmonica universe as the lessons there, although generally quite disjointed from one another, can be readily understood within the framework you've created - so you're actually adding value to the competition! (-:
Thanks again for your reply and for BluesHarmonica.com.
Peter
Fantastic, thank you for the return feedback.
Hello Peter.
If a student is okay (sees the value in it, and is patient) with reviewing material from the top... linear approach from the beginning... I will start them from LOA-L1.
The consolidation approach is probably more common, and of course is fine. There may be some holes in one's understanding (missing elements they don't know are important), but they'll run across these ideas again at some point, so it's not a big deal.
I understand the value in a mental overview... I often like to go through all material in a series that I'm trying to learn (music theory lessons for a student would be a good example) from the beginning to the end, and then go back to the beginning and actually dig in and study it.
Private students commonly have a customized track... I balance need and inspiration.
For students on the site, they can also do this with looking at lessons that aren't so challenging every so often. Mixing challenging and not so challenging is smart... this prevents burnout.
Lastly, be careful of analysis paralysis. We can sometimes spend more time planning on how to do something than actually doing it. If you find yourself wondering too often about the best way to approach something, often it's better to just pick a path and go.