Look, I’m not going to assume a guise of false modesty here, or a “humble brag” (“Am so humbled to have just been voted as the best thing since sliced bread”): the fact is, I am known to play a mean blues harmonica. However, as I haven’t played with a band in over a year, I thought I’d get back into the swing of things by going on a course. In the first lesson, the tutor got us to play two main things.
First, he showed us how to create a train sound. I had already taught myself how to do this, because any self-respecting blues person understands that you need the right sound effect to accompany lines like “My baby’s leaving on that midnight train” and “I heard that lonesome whistle blow”. He also taught us how to play When the saints go marching in (swing it, brothers). I’d already taught myself to play that eons ago, but never mind.
I didn't think my playing was THAT bad...
The point of all this apparent persiflage is that I was impressed that the tutor got us to play actual stuff rather than just a load of techniques that we didn’t apply.
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cross-posted at www.ictineducation.org
Terry Freedman is an independent educational ICT consultant with over 35 years of experience in education. He publishes the ICT in Education website and the newsletter “Digital Education."
