It's a lot nicer than what most schools have. Someone will learn to love playing thanks to the donation and also thanks to it being properly set up.
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What a "great" teacher! (venting)
- Thread starter Raman
- Start date
You could hardly be more out of touch with the realities of most school districts in this country.
Howard is a bit of an outlier though. Head down to PG or over the Baltimore and the taxes to school funding scales are way different
UnderstoodHoward is a bit of an outlier though. Head down to PG or over the Baltimore and the taxes to school funding scales are way different
Or you just read into what I said. I know that there are funding issues and that I'm in an area that has better funding than most. I've lived in other areas, but moved here. But I'm out of touch if that makes you feel better.
Sorry, I need to vent, even though it's not such a big deal.
I donated a bass to my son's primary school recently. It's a Squier Affinity P. That bass sounds and plays really well and I hesitated a lot before departing from it.
The music teacher, who is a pianist, was super happy about it. Though they don't usually play electric instruments, she had planned to do a rock-oriented project with the kids.
Yesterday, my son comes home and announces that the music teacher was absent. The sub teacher who came in her place is a bassist who talked a whole lot about bass and bass playing. Great, I thought! It's not often that kids get to hear praises about bass.
Naturally, I asked my son if the sub had commented on the shiny new bass that the class had acquired... Apparently, what the sub told the students about it is: "A shame that it's only a cheap bass made in Indonesia".
What a jerk! Of course, it's a bit personal for me, since I'm the one who gave it. But even without that, what kind of teacher goes into a classroom and tells the kids that their new instrument is garbage??? Great way to incite them to play, champ!
And the cheap clarinets she tells parents to rent are going to make Johnny and or Sally sound just like Benny Goodman… thank goodness it was only a sub.
On a sidebar, I think the principal need to know about this.
Yeah, I too thought that was a bit unnecessary of the sub. You don't go bagging on something in a teaching situation. Just a bit of a snob.
Don't know how far you'd want to go for satisfaction, but if it were me, this what I would do. Explain what happened to the "real" teacher and I mean that person acted like a teacher. Thank goodness!
Maybe come in and do a little presentation on the bass guitar it self on its many positives? I did that once for my oldest back in the 90s. It was fun.
I don't own a Squier, but they've come a long way. By the way, thanks for donating to your child's school.
IMO, more than adequate for scholastic work.
Yikes. My goodness, Did the Drivers Ed teacher recommend a Mercedes? LOL.
I've had a lot of people over the years ask me for advice on buying instrument for children. My advice is to buy a used quality instrument first if available. If they are buying new, not to buy the cheapest "starter" instrument out there. That is a dead loss. Either "Johnny is going to quit or sooner or later is going need a better instrument.
If you can't afford a pro quality instrument (which for a starter is asking for it), to get a good mid level instrument that when the time comes for an upgrade or Johnny wants to play football, you can get some of your initial money back. JMO.
In the dark days, I actually worked for GC (albeit BRIEFLY, thank gawd
).
Best thing I ever did that could have got me fired-
An obviously very affluent man came in with his 12-year old who was going to begin bass lessons and wanted to buy his starting instrument. The kid was digging on a very pricey Warwick, which Pops could have put on his AMEX, no problem. "Dad, it's so cool" the kid said.
His pop was smart- he actually asked me what I thought.
I told him "Sir, you know if your kid really takes to the bass, and practices, eventually becoming a decent player, come on back and buy him that 'Wick. It's an awesome bass that sounds and plays great."
"But we know that practice takes commitment and can be discouraging; lots of students drop out when they find out they can't just rock out without learning the basics and getting their fingers trained. It hurts!"
"So- I recommend this starter kit- (IIRC it was an Ibby). About $250.00 Very playable, good enough to learn & practice on, and if he kicks it on that, c'mon back in 6 months and reward him with that $3K Warwick."
God advice if I say so myself.
).Best thing I ever did that could have got me fired-
An obviously very affluent man came in with his 12-year old who was going to begin bass lessons and wanted to buy his starting instrument. The kid was digging on a very pricey Warwick, which Pops could have put on his AMEX, no problem. "Dad, it's so cool" the kid said.
His pop was smart- he actually asked me what I thought.
I told him "Sir, you know if your kid really takes to the bass, and practices, eventually becoming a decent player, come on back and buy him that 'Wick. It's an awesome bass that sounds and plays great."
"But we know that practice takes commitment and can be discouraging; lots of students drop out when they find out they can't just rock out without learning the basics and getting their fingers trained. It hurts!"
"So- I recommend this starter kit- (IIRC it was an Ibby). About $250.00 Very playable, good enough to learn & practice on, and if he kicks it on that, c'mon back in 6 months and reward him with that $3K Warwick."
God advice if I say so myself.
Thanks!
But it's not about me. In the end, it's about the kids and about that sub teacher.
I'm of the mind that a bass that plays and sounds nice is a good instrument, regardless where it's from or how much it cost. But for some people, if it doesn't have the right brand name and the right price tag, they won't even give it a try. That's the definition of being a snob. But that's fine. You do you, I do me.
Except, don't tell kids who may be excited about their new thing that it's crap just because it doesn't meet your own snobbish expectations. There is no educational value in that, none at all.
That bass that I donated is a good bass. I played it for a good 3 years. I adjusted it, I improved the preamp, it keeps in tune and the Squier pickups are not bad at all! (My only slight regret is the strings. I should have strung it with flatwounds...)
I could understand a critical comment from a teacher if the bass had any obvious defect: pickup buzzing, fret ringing, crazy high action, etc. A good teacher might want to warn the kids that a better instrument would be more fun to learn and play on. Or, I could understand if the bass sounded cheap. But this one doesn't.
That sub teacher going in the classroom dissing on their instrument sounds like a kid who learned that high-end brands sound glamorous and resale profitably. His main concern is not about being a good and fun musician: It's all about having the prestigious costly gear.
Again: You do you, I do me. But don't do that in my kid's music classroom please.
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Good story. Thanks.In the dark days, I actually worked for GC (albeit BRIEFLY, thank gawd
Best thing I ever did that could have got me fired-
An obviously very affluent man came in with his 12-year old who was going to begin bass lessons and wanted to buy his starting instrument. The kid was digging on a very pricey Warwick, which Pops could have put on his AMEX, no problem. "Dad, it's so cool" the kid said.
His pop was smart- he actually asked me what I thought.
I told him "Sir, you know if your kid really takes to the bass, and practices, eventually becoming a decent player, come on back and buy him that 'Wick. It's an awesome bass that sounds and plays great."
"But we know that practice takes commitment and can be discouraging; lots of students drop out when they find out they can't just rock out without learning the basics and getting their fingers trained. It hurts!"
"So- I recommend this starter kit- (IIRC it was an Ibby). About $250.00 Very playable, good enough to learn & practice on, and if he kicks it on that, c'mon back in 6 months and reward him with that $3K Warwick."
God advice if I say so myself.
I'm sure globally music in public schools isn't the best funded. I teach bass in a few and the fact a bass even exists is a novelty but the condition of the instruments is something else.
This is hundreds of kids over years and years handling these instruments so they just get punished. That's the nature of the beast!
With that in mind this once again reinforces my belief that of the millions of musicians out there who teach most of them are not educators.
This is hundreds of kids over years and years handling these instruments so they just get punished. That's the nature of the beast!
With that in mind this once again reinforces my belief that of the millions of musicians out there who teach most of them are not educators.
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