Description

Student recordings have been on offer since 2012 “any perfected piece is recorded free”. Since then, I have only had a very small handful of takers…

I graduated a student named Susanne at the end of last year. By the end of our time together, she had recorded her own original piece. When I asked her about her experience, she mentioned that it worked so well because she didn’t know the plan, I just gave her one week at a time. It sounds very ambitious to learn all of the skills required to compose, perform and record, all in a year, but we did it. Importantly, I realised that my previous approach in delivery must be incorrect. Most of my students get to a level where recording is a great option, but less than 10 have ever taken me up on the offer. Here is Dani. 🙂

The 2 changes I have in mind to get a better result. First up is charging something… I know, you are the client and you want things for free. This is how it normally works, but if that did actually work, I would have at least one recording from every student. By adding a dollar figure, it has value.

Second up, the end goal of recording is our secret until the process is complete. This way, the student has no time to build pressure, fear and nerves around the idea.

In the professional world, we muso’s need to be able to refine material to performance and recording quality. It is one thing to play a song, it is a totally different level to be able to video a performance of it like Logan has done (well done Logan!). In lessons we cover how songs are played from the page to the fingers, but we don’t refine things beyond about 80% normally (unless there is a performance coming up).

 

In this lesson package, I aim to share the entire process that I use to get a piece perfect from 80% to 100%. The basic idea is to get teach/learn every part of a song in a one hour lesson in week one. For 6 days after, there will be a 10 min lesson, one every day (except one). These lessons are to make sure that practice is on track. The expected homework will be about 1 hour of practice each day with lessons to prompt. Week 2 will be a 1.5 hour lesson where I will bring in professional recording equipment. We will record every riff 3 times (by then the student may figure out what is happening). The recorded riffs will be “comped” (best takes chosen) and professionally mixed by myself or Dylan at Sonic Fingerprint Studios. At this stage drafts will be given to the student and practice of playing the whole song is to be encouraged (there is nothing more exciting than hearing yourself in a recording that actually sounds good, it motivates and inspires). The student will think that the project is over, but week 3, if the student can play the piece start to finish, I will come with microphones, camera and lights, and we can have something that looks similar to Logan above.

End result “B” or below –

1 x 60 min learning session

6 x 10 min practice start sessions, one per day (online)

1 x 1.5 hour recording session

1 x 2.5-3 hour mixing session (behind the scenes)

End piece – Professionally recorded and mixed song with backing track or an original with no video (like the ones above).

End result for “outstanding playing” – Grade A or above – Defined by ability to play through the piece with no mistakes start to finish the day before the first lesson of the school term.

No-extra-cost video of performance piece (like Logans above) to be shared with family or on any social media you are comfortable with.

Adding up all of the time involved, its not cheap. Before I had a kid myself, I wouldn’t dream anyone would pay just shy of $500 for a recording like this, but I now have a bit more understanding of what parent life can involve. Especially in school holidays. The real thing you want to know, is how much time will this keep your kids occupied? 8.5 hours is the minimum if they score a B or below. And its 14 hours of lessons + practice if they are even attempting to get an A. You might be able to beat that dollar for minute with a video game or 2, but would you prefer them to be playing games or music?

There is no time cost to the parent. No driving. All you need to do is book a time, part with some hard earned cash and I will take care of 8.5-14 hours of their holiday time and teach them a skill they will remember for life.

This is the first time I am offering it in this format, so I am keen to hear what you think about the idea. The maths works out at this price point for me, but only just. My real question is… Is this too expensive? Is there an invisible line on how much is too much on kids activities?

Payment can be made in the usual ways that lessons are paid for, or they can be made on this website, but I get stung with fees, so the usual way is preferred.

I really hope that I can make this program a success, it is very hard getting a piece to 100% with once a week lessons, the time comes (normally after about 3 weeks) when a piece gets boring. If I could bridge the gap a bit better at least once per student, it would help them see that the sky isn’t the limit, its just the beginning.