Formal Instruction

[terry_b_wanna_b]

what are the benefits of formal instruction over self teaching?

[billdrum]

A watchful eye over technique problems & development

Motivation

Musical ideas and guidance you might not find otherwise

Access to and knowledge of specific materials and books to help your specific course of study and technical development

Someone who can (hopefully) demonstrate the concepts you'd like to learn

....Just a few off the top of my head.

[RockAndRoll]

all that stuff and it can help you learn more quickly. It gives you someone who can constantly explain things in different ways and give you new practicing techniques etc... to help you learn. A really good teacher will also teach you how to teach yourself things better.

[fishbulb]

One major thing is that you can ask him/her questions and get immediate answers and feedback on your playing. Something like grip could haunt the rest of your drumming career if you start out with horrible technique and it is much harder to learn that from a book.

[dumbassdrummer]

The difference between Da Vinci and me trying to paint.

[jiashen]

One anal but important point to note is that these are the benefits of GOOD formal instruction. You're not going to go too far with a crappy teacher.

[dumbassdrummer]

Luckily a good teacher, usually, isn't hard to find. Band instructors at schools usually have a long list of private teachers and valuable advice as to which teacher is better. Some might have had other experience, but I myself have known many great teachers who give lessons at music stores.

[dairyairman]

my teacher is always introducing me to styles and techniques i never would have thought of or considered on my own. he's got such a broad perspective, you can't help but learn from him.

[Seafroggys]

The difference between Da Vinci and me trying to paint.

Da vinci was not much of a painter as he was other things.

Better analogy would be Monet or Van Gogh.

[dumbassdrummer]

I chose da Vinci for his technique. The analogy is just fine.

[Det_Nosnip]

Mmm yeah, the analogy works...even if it's a horrible exaggeration. If every drummer who took lessons played the equivalent of Da Vinci, drum instructors would make a HELL of alot more money. :lol: It's a 2-way street.

With a good teacher, you will learn things quicker and more accurately. When you do something wrong, you won't have to realize it for yourself, and you will be exposed to a wide range of ideas and playing styles that you might have (or might have not) eventually picked up on your own. Some people are better self-teachers than others, but nobody is above finding benefit with private lessons.

[ace76543]

if you get a bad teacher, you can alway change teachers..

[Tillmon]

Most people don't have the discipline to teach themselves. You skip things in books that you don't want to do and tell yourself that it's not important. A teacher will make you do the things that he or she knows are important.

[LoneStarDrummer]

Da vinci was not much of a painter as he was other things.

Better analogy would be Monet or Van Gogh.
da vinci is more renowned as a painter than anything else. he's still considered on of the greatest painter to date. the mona lisa and the last supper are two of the most recognizable paintings of all time, rivaled only by the creation of adam by michealangelo.

granted he was also a scientist (with great advances in anatomy, civil engineering,, optics, and hydrodynamics), mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician, and writer, he is still most noted for his painting.

[Seafroggys]

I think of him more by his technical drawings, his ideas, inventions, concepts, etc. He is one of the coolest "artists" of all time, but in terms of the "painting" aspect of art, I consider others to be greater.

Just my two cents.

[LoneStarDrummer]

i hear what you're saying. his tech drawings and plans for inventions are incredible.