Posted by Kenneth Sloan on April 10, 2001 at 01:05:24:
In Reply to: Re: Beginner Material posted by Chuck Jackson on April 09, 2001 at 11:52:01:
Speaking as a beginner(again) let me reinforce the idea of using tunes that the students already know. One of my (many) personal weaknesses is the difficulty that I have with new material that I can't hear in my mind before playing it. If that's *not* what you want to work on, then using a familiar tune helps quite a bit.
The same comments hold for articulation and rhythm! If the student already knows what it's supposed to sound like, it's much easier for him to know when he's getting it almost right.
My 13yo son had a few electric bass lessons from an instructor who told him: "bring in a CD that you like to listen to, and we'll work on playing the bass line to go with it". I'm not sure if this applies directly to beginning tubists - but it makes the point that beginners are motivated by playing tunes they recognize.
Even Arban pushes this idea! All of those tunes in Arban were well-known "popular" tunes when he included them. If we no longer know them today, then they don't serve the same purpose (they might serve some other purpose, though).
If I were in the business of teaching such folk (no danger there) I would be tempted to get them involved in writing their own practice material. picking out tunes (and writing them down), transposing from other sources, etc. All worthwhile activities. Make them write down what they think it should say...and then make them play what they've written.