Hi everyone,

i'm starting to put together some supplemental material for expand on the concept laid out in the Basic Free Hands Technique DVD, and I'm looking for feedback from YOU!

The disc has been out for several months, so I'm hoping you've had a chance to digest it above and beyond first impressions. Any in-depth comments about the material would be very helpful.

Candidates for additional material formats are:

exercises in print form, based on traditional musical scenarios.
additional video material with written exercises.
video only, no sheet music or tabs please.

The DVD was not meant at all to be "comprehensive" so specific areas you want more material on would be good to know about.

Thanks to all of you who have picked up the disc, I hope it's been useful.

I vote for "additional video material with written exercises"

having "very specific" exercises which incorporate "very specific" techniques (similar to what I have seen you teach at seminars) would be great.

Sometimes, I just want to be told what to do and shown how to do it.

I remember Bill Evans telling a story ( in a video) about his bother asking him to show him some chord voicings. Bill told his brother "I could show you the voicings, but then you would lose the experience of discovering them yourself" I remember thinking 'just show him the darn chord Bill'

Brett

Thanks for the feedback Brett. I'm thinking some kind of pdf with video embedded would be a good possibility.

One of the things I felt really good about the DVD was the tuning universality of it, which is something I will definitely keep in mind for future projects.

Additional exercises (standard notation or stafftab) would be a good addition.

Regards, Daniel.

How about some simple "Piano Book 1" type tunes in Stick Tab? You know, the kind of stuff that slowly gets both hands going independent/interdependent AND are actual tunes one might know, rather than exercises. Twinkle Twinkle type stuff.

^^^ditto that.

^^^^ Double ditto that! Actual "tunes" are always more fun than exercises, and us beginners need all the help we can get

Now, sometimes I use "kids's music" like "twinkle twinkle" or "Hot Cross Buns" to make a point, for example, that players who rely on a position-based approach might not have a good technique strategy for incorporating repeated notes into their melody skill set.

A more grown-up example would be something like "Obla-di Obla-Da", or for the jazz heads. "Mr PC". The problem with using material like this is one of copyright, so I try to avoid it.

To that end, I tend to rely on public domain material like "Shanandoah", "America the Beautiful" or even "Happy Birthday". Is this the kind of thing you're asking for? I don't want to insult anyone's musical ambitions, or dumb things down too much either..

Thanks for the feedback.

Yes, the public domain simple stuff. Dumb it down for us nouveau-Stickists.
Well known classical themes
Nursery rhymes
Folk tunes
Pirate shanties

That kind of thing.

Just a heads-up, Greg: "Happy Birthday" is not in the public domain. To wit: http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/birthday.asp

I'll add my voice to the chorus suggesting simple/familiar tunes that can help bring novice hands into the lessons.

Best,
- B