The older I get the more I realize how important it is to have a personal private teacher or a mentor. The next best thing is good recordings and a desire to listen, remember and imitate the recording.
The recording has the actual sound of what you want to sound like, but as a beginner you may not know what to listen for.
I am reminded of a 60 year old woman who leads the praise team at the last church I played for. She made a comment to me that let me know she didn't know what to listen for in music. She told me she thought that it would be impossible for me to learn a recording that she wanted me learn because it had overdubbing on it, with all those different instruments playing at the same time.
She doesn't realize all I need is the bass line melody, the melody and the chord changes, to lift any song from a recording.
She was also under the impression that if she bought a keyboard she would somehow miraculously become an improved piano player, without practicing. She thought that just buying it would transform her limited piano playing skills overnight. Remember she's no kid. She's 60 years old.
Then you need to know what to practice. Otherwise you could spend years learning the wrong things. A good teacher is very important.
It's worth it for you to find one. Ohio has some big cities that have good teachers. Oberland College is in that state. I took a correspondence course in song writing from a teacher in Cleveland. Look around and good luck. Oh yeah Definance College is in Ohio too.
May God bless you in your efforts.
brother scott
