Dave J Ford: Newburgh, North Fife: Music Teacher. Lessons / Tuition by ear in: Saxophone, Trumpet, Guitar, Clarinet,

Newburgh Ear Academy

Newburgh,
North Fife

Workshops
wi'
Nae dots:

Workshops in Newburgh are currently rather New & Exciting! More dates will follow shortly & you will be able to book through this site.

Feel free to propose a workshop & date that fits your circle of friends & acquaintances, if you don’t see it here.

Worried, nervous about booking?? Don't be!
Academy Philosophy on Sheet music

Close up of Tenor Sax, Sax workshops, Perthshire

Booking form download

workshops run 10.00 - 4.00 with 1 hour lunch (not provided)

Dates (2008)	Workshop	max no	level	Days	Deposit	Cost
Sun 31 Aug Sun 21 Sept	Brass (including Sax)	5	beginner	1	10	50
Sun 24 Aug Sun 14 Sept	Guitar	6	beginner	1	10	50
Sun 17 Aug Sun 7 Sept	Fiddle	8	beginner	1	10	40
Sun 10 Aug Sun 28 Sept	Folk (fiddle, guitar, mandolin etc)	8	advancing beginner	1	10	40

All Workshops are 'Ear-Centric'.
As much time will be spent listening to & analysing music as reproducing it.

Nervous??

It’s common for people to be so nervous about booking onto a workshop that they never actually do.

People are frightened of being exposed as someone who can’t play – or who have no ear

Let me persuade you to come.

A Tone (far left) & a major 3rd

The first ‘ear exercise’ you will encounter is that you will be played 2 notes (intervals). One will be very high & the other very low. The 2 notes at the far ends of a piano are often used. You will be told which is the lowest & which is the highest. A few more ‘pairs’ of notes will be player in a similar vane.

Then you’ll be asked to identify the highest of a pair of notes. Either the first one or the second to be played. Most people will manage this without difficulty. If you can’t tell at the start, you should be able to in due course.

An Octave

If you can tell the difference, the notes will get progressively closer until we’re down to Octaves (which can be surprisingly difficult at first) 5ths, 4ths, 3rds, & then ‘tones’. If you can still identify the lower from the higher, you’re doing Very Well. Pairs of notes like this are called ‘intervals'.

Finally we’ll go down to semi-tones – the closest there is.

Semi-tone

a 5th

You’ll probably find you don’t reach semi-tones, or even Octaves, on the first time of trying. This simply means you have identified the level you ear is currently at. You Will improve as the workshop continues.As you are finding your level, scales can help you & will be played as well as the 2 note ‘interval’. If you are finding difficulty identifying a 5th, for example, hearing the 5 note scale from one to the other can help you identify if it’s going up, or down.

It will certainly help for the often tricky ‘Octave’.

There will be people of different levels at the class. Where you fall in doesn’t really matter. If there are people more advanced than you at the class, you’ll benefit as one always learns better when around people who are a wee bit better than you.

There are free programs & web-sites out there which test you ear. Have a go before you come. Just search for “musical interval tutor” musicalintervalstutor.com is one.

Fish eye view of acoustic guitar: tuition in North East Fife

Sheet music - BEWARE ...don’t get addicted. It’s a slippery slope.

The 'Dots' do have their place. It is used occasionally at the Academy to demonstrate rhythm, chord structures etc. It may be given out as an aide-memoir to get you started if you forget – particularly a folk tune. A knowledge of sheet music is a helpful tool. You may jot down dots if that really helps you.

It should, however, be treated with caution & should not be relied upon.

Alcohol is a great drug. It facilitates much social cohesion. But when you can't function without it, it can lead to mindlessness & ruin. Think of sheet music the same way & learn never to rely on it. Listening soberly is the route to the Holy Grail. Not being able, or interested in reading is the surest way to develop your ear to it’s best.

The Dots, draw the brain away from the main task of the Academy – training you to listen, understand & reproduce what you hear. Sheet music can rob you of those skills. Don't rely on it.

Keys – learn the piano in Newburgh, North East Fife

The Piano is particularly challenging to teach without the use of the ‘dots’ but ain’t impossible. It’s the one area where it will often rear it’s ugly stave. However, bringing a recording device to your workshop to record the tunes is the ideal way to complement the Ear based approach.

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Burgher Chapel
3 Clinton Street
Newburgh
Fife KY14 6DP

email: dave
mobile: 07970 744986
landline: 01337 841004