OLIVER IAN CROSS

So I am trying to get this started again. To begin with I am proofreading my site to correct any typos that I have not previously noticed and also I am making some minor grammatical adjustments to make the reading more understandable. Next I will simply keep going forward from where I left off. Bear with me. It is a lot harder to create this content then it may seem.

And I met an engineer who, like me, was working a regular job and not living out his calling. This meeting helped me to realize that I need to do get this work done. I will try.

My apologies to all who have been waiting for additional teaching posts from this blog. I will now start putting together new notes for new posts and hopefully I can start posting again around the first of November. Also, I have  recently noticed some errors that I am working to correct now. I always appreciate feedback, including the pointing out of errors so feel free to send posts letting me know anyone finds any. Sorry I left you hanging.

I met this great group of musicians today who go by the name MAN-MADE MOUNTAIN. These guys are the real deal. Pure musicianship unadulterated by popular opinion. They said they will be uploading to youtube soon, so keep looking out for them. By the way guys, if you’re reading this, I was the man on the blue bicycle.

I want to make this perfectly clear… THERE IS NO REAL MYSTERY to music or music theory. You only need to commit to memory a lot of very small and very understandable pieces of information that can then be combined in an infinite number of ways to get every type of music you have ever heard of. And probably some you have never heard of. This is how any subject is mastered. By breaking anything down into its smallest possible fragments and then studying each fragment individually is how you can become a genius at anything. That is what we will do on this site as well as answer any post that has questions  specific to understanding what is written here.

You’ve got to be able to play by ear and that’s just all there is to it and if you follow the lessons that will be placed on this site you will. The ability to play by ear is not some mutant ability that only a few talented people can learn.Any musician can learn to play ear and In fact, the concept is so straight forward that by simply reading the lessons that will be placed here on this site, some of you will probably be able grasp the concept before you start to play. I think that’s all I have to say about that.

Here’s how this site is going to flow.

  I will pick a book or series of books and I will go through every paragraph  and every exercise. I will respond to questions and comments about anything written in any book that we are working through. I will also recommend supplemental reading material specific to difficult, vague or underdeveloped areas of the books we will be working through. I will make every effort to bring clarity to whatever someone is confused about and if I don’t know the answer I will say so and I will seek the counsel of someone who knows more about the subject than I do.

Often when reading these type books alone, the reader will get to something in the book that they don’t understand and if they have no one to ask, they simply quit. One of the main goals of this blog is to be that person that you can ask and get the answers that will keep you moving as far as you want to go. I also hope to elevate your understanding of music and theory to a level where you will no longer need to ask but instead are able to adequately research and find the answers you need for yourself and teach others as well. At some point I’d like to provide video of someone playing through every exercise and example in every book that doesn’t come with a cd or dvd so that you will know exactly how the examples are supposed to sound.

It is my hope that the people who start this journey of musical discovery will, with or without this site, NEVER STOP PEDALING… or at least keep climbing  until they reach the destination that they originally started towards.

I once read somewhere that a person who does not read is no better than a person who cannot read.

Virtually everything that anybody wants to know about anything (especially things that people have been doing for a long time) has already been written down in a book somewhere and the biggest indicator of success or failure in any venture is usually a persons reading habits. I believe music is no different and when it comes to teaching or learning music I don’t believe in gimmicks or so-called quick paths to overnight ability. I do believe in good old-fashioned tried and true unpretentious method books and theory books that make no attempt to sugar coat the hard work involved in learning to play an instrument.

This blog site is about learning to play from books. It can be done but only if you want to do  the work. Private teachers are great too but the good ones also teach from books and usually have done quite a bit of reading and hard work themselves to be able to do what they do.