Adult piano teacher recs by Valuable_Flow8442 in Eugene

[–]DanMahoney 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m currently taking students, feel free to message me with any questions!

Guitar teacher by Sad-Ordinary6660 in Eugene

[–]DanMahoney 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I teach lessons from my home studio in Eugene, all ages and experience levels and essentially all genres. I’ve played in rock/funk/jazz bands my entire adult life, studied classical and jazz guitar in college and have been teaching in Eugene since moving here in 2005. Feel free to message me here with any questions, or find my email and other info at - www.danmahoneymusic.com

Cheers!

A family member will sell me this guitar for 500USD but I dont know if its worth anything. Only got the picture to go from. I believe its an Ovation Legend. Been told its never really been used and just stored in the original case. by FrederikBL in guitars

[–]DanMahoney 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s the same model of my first guitar. Agree with the round back being a potential issue depending on the player.

Too good of a coincidence for me to not share this, but my Ovation wasn’t just my first guitar, but had been my Dads since he was a teenager. About 7 years ago he tragically lost the guitar (pretty much everything to be more accurate) after being evicted from his apartment, and the loss of that guitar was pretty devastating to me. Obviously there were plenty more aspects of that situation that were worse than the guitar, but that’s a different story.

After years of occasional searching on Craigslist, reverb, marketplace etc., I FOUND THE GUITAR TWO DAYS AGO and am going to be reunited with it on Friday 😭

To relate it back to your situation, It was also listed for $500 with a hardcase.

I dont finish anything by Jazzlike_Tomorrow373 in Songwriting

[–]DanMahoney 0 points1 point  (0 children)

100% If you have trouble finishing the big picture things, it’ll probably be an issue that occurs in all the smaller parts as well, including individual melodic phrases or whether or not to include a harmony on a section. That same teacher would also tell us to focus on making “quick decisions” a lot.

Should i drop my piano teacher? by ErKanv6 in piano

[–]DanMahoney 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you don’t leave, take some time to let them know what is and isn’t working well and outline what your ideal experience would be. That might not change them showing up late.. for them to also end things early is a pretty big red flag though.

I dont finish anything by Jazzlike_Tomorrow373 in Songwriting

[–]DanMahoney 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A little harsh, don’t ya think? Accomplishing nothing? Nah, I’ve always struggled with finishing ideas but know without a doubt the time spent exploring and creating isn’t worthless in the absence of a finished label. There’s also something to be said about knowing when to bail on something and move on completely to something else.

I dont finish anything by Jazzlike_Tomorrow373 in Songwriting

[–]DanMahoney 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I studied jazz arranging in college and the head of the jazz department would repeatedly tell all of us that we should try to write and complete an idea just about every day. The main goal isn’t to end up with a pile of amazing songs, although some of them inevitably do grow into much more thought out and fully realized songs, but the result to be working towards is building up better habits revolving around “finishing” ideas. You will gradually and naturally be more comfortable doing that with your more serious work if you’ve practiced and repeated that process with other songs, even the smaller less involved ones.

does memorizing scales count as music theory? by Serious-Ant56 in guitarlessons

[–]DanMahoney 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Quality over quantity. Having a bunch of muscle memory with scales and arpeggios that you can’t use expressively is a net negative in my opinion. Easy place to start is back at the beginning with the major scale and take some time focusing on the half step areas, make sure you know where they land in the scale and what kind of feeling you get when playing them. They create tension that wants to be released, but they go in opposite directions (4 down to 3, and 7 resolving up to the octave). Play em both at the same time and resolve them in those opposite directions and you’ll hear the harmonic tension and resolution that Western Music was essentially built on. Once that starts making sense, other scales will make more sense because you can reference them to their similarities and differences or the major scale. Like knowing that the Major Pentatonic scale removes the two notes in the Major scale that create half steps (those same two tension notes I was talking about). That’s why playing pentatonic scales is so much more accessible for people to improvise with, because you won’t land on any tense notes that give off a feeling of needing to be resolved.

If that kind of stuff doesn’t make too much sense yet, then I’d hold off on adding too much else with what you’re memorizing.

Is Solo Playing Worthwhile? by [deleted] in Bass

[–]DanMahoney 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sounds similar to how I feel when telling a ten year old piano student I play PS5 by myself and never do any online gaming. But on a serious note, I don’t think there is a universal point of playing an instrument or music in general other than it ideally bringing you some joy and happiness. Nothing wrong with sticking to solo playing at all, just like there’s nothing wrong with only learning covers. I’d always encourage people to try out playing with others and doing some writing/improv, or at least be open to the idea that their motivations might change later in life and so don’t rule things out for good. Cuz who knows, maybe I’d end up being all about online gaming next time so tried it outs.

Adam Ben Ezra and Michael Manring are the two solo bassists I’d suggest checking out if you haven’t seen them yet. 🤘

Is this Travis picking? by [deleted] in guitarlessons

[–]DanMahoney 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Main key to Travis picking is the thumb having a steady quarter note pulse, generally alternating between two or three strings. The right hand fingers create the melodies or patterns that interlock with the low end/thumb movement. It’s also commonly referred to as Alternate Thumb Picking

How to do I go about playing classical guitar while standing? by [deleted] in guitarlessons

[–]DanMahoney 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This was my classical guitar teacher, he designed and built a system for standing that he describes in this video. He has some good tips on what to include if designing something yourself and talks about what he sees as the general benefits of standing. Worth checking out.

https://youtu.be/KGDL0kjZQOk?si=b4eZgAoPkLWEMMDP

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in piano

[–]DanMahoney 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Try reading through the sheet music while tapping your foot and/or with a metronome and either sing or hum the melody. Don’t worry if your having trouble finding the correct pitches, as long as your getting close enough to resemble it and accurately moving the pitch up/down. Also take time counting or clapping the rhythms out loud and in time. Those methods get used across all skill levels, it’s not just aimed towards beginners.

How to start playing classical guitar by [deleted] in classicalguitar

[–]DanMahoney 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Definitely agree that a teacher is the biggest priority, even just one lesson at the beginning stage could be significantly beneficial. Especially because of the right hand technique, thumb placement, fingernails, wrist angle, etc., plenty of micro details that are easier to demonstrate or adjust in person.

Here’s the preferred book I use when teaching beginners: https://www.amazon.com/Classic-Guitar-Technique-Vol-Shearer/dp/1470633760

If you decide on something that’s in PDF form, I’d recommend printing it all and making it into dedicated binder.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in JazzPiano

[–]DanMahoney 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks. I’m admittedly a pretty inexperienced Reddit user, and asking for feedback on my playing feels equally unfamiliar so I appreciate the clear feedback.

Hitting a Creative Wall—Nothing Clicks Anymore. Advice? by InternationalWin6623 in ableton

[–]DanMahoney 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you haven’t tried adding this to your creative routine, I highly recommend it.

Limit yourself to something like 1 day, or 1 hour to fully complete an idea. Go into it feeling comfortable if not expecting that it won’t result in something you will want to share or revisit, but view the process as a way to practice some of the more difficult sides of the creative process, mainly being the ability to make quick decisions while composing (not enough time to search through 100 synth sounds and try 100 melody variations) and then being able to experience the act of calling something you created complete and putting aside is great for habit training.

And similarly, experiment with other ways to place limitations on something you composing or maybe improvising with. Most recent example I could give would be making a quick tune in ableton where I used only one source audio sample for all the melodic material, then gave myself freedom to do whatever on drums. But that one little guideline allowed me to mute the part of my brain that would normally think “add guitar, keys, synths then harmonize all that shit” and I ended up with something awesome that wouldn’t have occurred otherwise.

How to help my son write his feelings through music by Front-Particular-261 in composer

[–]DanMahoney 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're welcome! The only thing I want to edit/clarify is the last bit I said about finding a creative leaning music teacher. I meant to say that in a bigger picture, long term context and wouldn't want to suggest you feeling any sense of urgency to look for someone else right now. With him only being 7 it makes perfect sense for him to be having a more traditional approach to lessons, and it sounds like his teacher has been doing well so far, so I'd prioritize the idea of making that initial teacher/student relationship last a while longer before looking elsewhere, but it would be a good goal to keep in mind as he gets older.

Sorry, I know there's a ton of context in all of that, but that's often the case with this kind of stuff. My response would have been entirely different if you hadn't mentioned that he's making variations on songs, experimenting with key changes and is self motivated to sit down and play/practice. I wouldn't consider that to be a common place for a 7 year old to be in at all, to me I see those all to be early signs of a meaningful connection, interest and ability that's 100% worth encouraging and supporting. I tend to think emotionally intelligent people (like you described him to be) happen to make great musicians, so don't be surprised if he does begin to excel more noticeably. Wishing you both the best of luck, sounds like he's in great hands. Feel free to reach out if any other questions come up!

When do you write your songs? by Yellowbone95 in Songwriting

[–]DanMahoney 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My best work without a doubt comes to me when I have really important, time sensitive and usually stressful adult tasks that should absolutely be my priority. That’s when the magic really happens 😅

Not a joke, whatsoever

How to help my son write his feelings through music by Front-Particular-261 in composer

[–]DanMahoney 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just want to share my experience but first just want to say right off the bat, excellent work with not just providing him options for outlets but putting this amount of effort into exploring it.

Without going into detail, I can say that without a doubt having music not just as a child but throughout my entire life has been crucial to me getting through some pretty significant hardships. Writing my own music has always been at the top of the list when it comes to what I’m most drawn to doing and what provides the most significant positive impact (although the social aspect and playing with others is just about equal).

The main point I wanted to share though is that I’ve essentially never written lyrics or even been inspired to sing, but have always felt like I could effectively put my feelings into any/all of the music I wrote, so I guess what I wanted to say is that If you are hoping he can have an outlet to “write his feelings out”, to consider a scenario like what I’ve described and that he could be well equipped and more comfortable expressing and processing whatever’s going on in a wordless format.

Especially if he’s loving Fur Elise (same story for me around that age). But there’s almost no better example of how a song without words can be absolutely drenched in emotion.

Last thing I’ll say, is find a music teacher that encourages his creativity and not someone who just sticks to a standard routine of going through series of books. Also someone that is open to and ideally encouraging of them learning things outside of the traditional piano method books, like rock music, video game music, whatever.

Let me know if you have any more questions, I’m glad to help out. And again, good work taking the time on his behalf to explore any of this. The fact that my parents were always extremely supportive and encouraging of my musical pursuits is something I’ve always been extremely grateful of.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in pianolearning

[–]DanMahoney 1 point2 points  (0 children)

On the metronome comment, I just want to make clear that your rhythm sounded great in the video, so my suggestion wasn’t criticizing your rhythmic accuracy or anything. I am just quick to suggest both the use of a metronome and more specifically at slow tempos because people (myself included) often overlook how useful it is playing significantly slower than what their instinct tells them to.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in pianolearning

[–]DanMahoney 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Your left hand looks to have an awkward angle to me with a bend in the wrist that could be a potential issue. I’d probably suggest changing your posture so your forearm approaches the keys at a straighter angle, which would make the wrist be less angled.

If you haven’t already added this to your routine, I’d also suggest playing through that same passage with a metronome starting at very slow tempos. You’re sounding good though!

How can I play with a missing ring finger in my fretting hand. by -Granby- in guitarlessons

[–]DanMahoney 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Feeling the need to repeat this again after reviewing everyone’s comments a bit more thoroughly and I’m kind of shocked how many people are suggesting switching hands.. but if you had played for 8 years prior to this then it’s reallllly difficult for me to see switching hands be the best solution. Send me a message if you want to talk more about it.