Patrick

"I've been a student of Michael's since 2011. I've had a few dead end attempts at learning an instrument in the past. I am very happy and appreciative about the progress I've made on the harmonica with Michael. I attribute it to his ability to teach music, in the largest sense of the word, while simultaneously teaching how to play the harmonica. Music theory once seemed as daunting to me as a foreign language or a physics class but Michael can break it down very well. This method might sound like a lot to dive into but it actually makes everything a lot easier because practicing has been much more rewarding and interesting when I understand the context. Its like an exercise for the instrument and the mind. In comparison, playing random chords or simple songs on a stringed instrument got boring fast when I had no idea why a particular sound was identified as C or G and had no idea how one simple tune related to another. Michael taught me how to connect the first sounds I made with a harp, the songs and improvisation I can play now, and all the music I listen to or even incidentally hear into a framework that reinforces itself. I experience music today with more depth in feeling and thinking because of what Michael has taught me. After a year of lessons in Texas, I moved to Rome, Italy and we've kept working together without skipping a beat through Skype. I'm very glad I gave the Skype lessons a try. The technology is free, 95% of the time the connection is perfect, I'm progressing on harmonica despite the distraction of a big move, and I don't have to battle the traffic on I-35."