Here’s a letter (unedited) I got a few weeks ago that just makes me so happy. Seeing this kind of enthusiasm for learning keeps me going, page revision after page revision. My favorite part is how learning music had a direct, measurable effect on his health and quality of life…

Dear Luke,

This letter is to thank you and your entire family for putting up the ToneWay.com web site, sharing with the world ways that music can enlighten one’s life. I am retired, sixty five years old, and was tired of sitting around the house watching TV or playing card games online. I had never played an instrument or sang, ever, in my entire life. After attending several bluegrass festivals I got the bug to learn to play so I could participate in jams in the evenings. ToneWay.com popped up as the result of a Google search and I was “off to the races”. I was excited to play my first song, Shady Grove, with your help, on July 25, 2011.

After a couple of weeks of playing along with your lessons every day, my wife said to me, “you are much calmer, your blood pressure must be down”. I realized after a month that the TV had not been on but for an hour or two the whole time and that online card games were almost a thing of the past. My wife was correct, my blood pressure was down 20 points, my doctor was amazed.

Your lessons teach the basics of the guitar, dobro, fiddle, mandolin, and banjo. I had no idea how these instruments related to one another nor did have a clue about music theory. Thanks to your all inclusive lessons, today, 2 months down the road, I feel comfortable playing and singing several songs from your songbook. Through your lessons it seems easy to play a few melodies on each instrument. You are correct in stating that using more than one instrument helps one understand how music works. I am a “happy camper.”

Your new article/video about getting kids into music [here] was impressive, and has been sent to my son-in-law, a bass player in a rock band. Hopefully he will see the light and get the grandkids some instruments and encourage them to play, making music part of their family.

Like I said to you in person at GOF [a local bluegrass festival], thanks again for putting a smile in my heart.

Sincerely,
Randy Shelton

Poke around and see what’s new! Or, if you like, here’s an overview of the more note-worthy improvements:

The JamPool is dead; long live the ToneWay Network!

OK, nevermind the name change. Here what’s important about our upgraded community-building tool:

• Better messaging. Now you can easily contact anyone in the Network, or even several people at once. They will get your message in their email, but email addresses are never revealed to anyone so your privacy is preserved.
• Easy message broadcasting. We took a lot of inspiration from the way Facebook works, and made it incredibly easy to post messages that will be seen by anyone in your area. Let your neighbors know you’re out there!
• Primed for growth. You must now be a member to see who else is in your area. Not only is this more “fair”, we imagine it will increase the number of people registered in the Network. Which is better for everyone.
• An awesome “map” feature. I won’t bother to explain, just go to the “Community” section, join the Network (if necessary), click on the map, and explore!

One important feature did not make this release, which is a way to subscribe to your local bulletin board posts via email. Hopefully we will get this figured out soon.

The ToneWay Forum: a global discussion board

This is a place where people can ask questions and discuss their experiences with learning music. We will be visiting the forums regularly, offering our help and humble opinions. In fact, we now request that all non-private correspondence be posted on the forum; that way, anyone can benefit from any posts relevant to them.

Note that we used to have a forum back in 2007-2009, but we took it down because it didn’t see much “action.” Now that the ToneWay community is larger and we have more support, it seems a good time to bring the message board back. I kept a few of the old discussions around for historical purposes. Let’s chat it up!

Facebook Integration

Now you can sign in via Facebook—no need to create or remember a ToneWay.com password! (If you already have an account, you can link the two.)

So let’s say you already have an account. Why should you care? Well, easier sign-up means more members. More members means more people in your area to contact and perhaps play music with!

And more…

Unfortunately, much of my time was spent developing aspects of the site that almost nobody will ever see (backend code and such). The good news is, 1) it’s done, and 2) it paves the way for smoother site growth in the future. Not that I’m thinking about working on the site much more this year—it’s time to start working hard on that new book!

As always, let me know if you find anything wrong with the site that I may have overlooked!

Cheers,
Luke Abbott

First of all, it is a rare person indeed who doesn’t have a hunger to play music. They won’t always tell you directly, but you can see it in the way they idolize their friend or relative who plays this or that instrument.

On the other hand, most people have discounted music-making as an option for themselves. Many feel they just don’t have the talent. Others were discouraged by a frustrating experience in the past where music was not fun. They still envy those who can play, but they conclude that, for one reason or another, they just don’t have what it takes.

As a music teacher, this is frustrating. After witnessing firsthand the musical growth of hundreds of students in our beginner classes, I have seen that pretty much everyone has what it takes. People with a complete lack of musical talent or experience, people who start out without the ability to sing on pitch, people with other, non-musical disabilities… folks from all these categories have discovered that music-making is within their grasp. Even the tone-deaf ones, who discover they were never really tone-deaf, only inexperienced.

The extent to which people underestimate their musical potential is staggering. I suspect this is partly because music seems very mysterious to an outsider; it’s hard to understand, so it must be hard to do, right? Nope. It’s easy to get started… and, it turns out that understanding the process is not important when it comes to enjoying what you’re doing. All you have to do is jump in!

I have come to the conclusion that the only critical requirement is motivation. If someone has the desire to play, all other obstacles can be overcome. Not everyone is going to become a fantastic musician, of course. Butanyone can learn enough to start playing with others, and to have fun doing it!

Our job is to make it easy for folks to get started. This is why we decided to put all this “Get Started” video instruction up for free on the web site. We want to reduce the barriers to music-making as much as possible. And so far, feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with many folks surprised at how simple music-making can be when you boil it down to the essentials!

But one barrier remains: convincing a beginner that it’s worth a shot. So, I encourage you to check out our free video series (especially if you’re a beginner) and, if you like what you see, suggest it to a friend of yours who might be interested in picking up an instrument. Better yet, go through the lessons with your friend. Make sure they know it’s a no-talent/experience/understanding-required course!

Luke Abbott

Elizabeth Englund, a reporter for UCSC‘s newspaper, recently interviewed us and watched one of our guided slow jams unfold…

In the third and final class of the Mountain Music Workshop, 10 students file into Harvey West Club Room and begin tuning their banjos, fiddles and guitars. This is no average music class — the students have learned all that they know not by rote, but by simply listening and playing together.

“Some of them are brand new to their instruments!” Leslie Abbott said excitedly.

The Mountain Music Workshop is taught twice a year by the Abbott family, and tonight Leslie Abbott and her son Luke lead the lesson. Luke is confident that his protegés are ready to lead the jam while he sits back and facilitates.

“Who wants to lead the first song?” Luke asks.

Some of the students are clearly uneasy at this prospect, and his question is met by nervous laughter and glances around the room.

“The worst thing that will happen is that it will all fall apart, and that will be fun,” Luke assures them. “Don’t be shy, play nice and loud!”

One brave woman with her guitar steps up and suggests playing “Handsome Molly” in the key of G. In bluegrass, breaks between the singing give the instrumentalists a chance to showcase their talent and style. The first break in “Handsome Molly” is quiet and timid, but by the second round, the melody shines through. The voices get louder as the musicians gain confidence, and after a few more verses and breaks, the leader kicks out her foot to signal the end of the song.

The Abbott family is clearly onto something. In only three 90-minute sessions, the students — most of them brand-new to their instruments — are now able to play multiple songs while singing. It’s no easy feat for bluegrass veterans, let alone newcomers.

Luke Abbott is only in his 20s, and when asked how many instruments he plays, he shrugs and smiles.

“Oh, I don’t know. Guitar, banjo, piano, fiddle and mandolin regularly.”

Remarkably, Luke has never taken any formal lessons. Instead he is self-taught, learning by ear and intuition.

After attending the Good Old-Fashioned Bluegrass Festival in 1997, the Abbotts, a local Santa Cruz family, fell in love with mountain music and never went back. Over the years, they recognized the benefits of learning music by ear collectively, and developed a method to share their discovery and teach others to play. They call it the “Toneway Project.”

Luke explained the Toneway method.

“When a child learns to walk, when a child learns to talk, they don’t understand what they’re doing,” he said. “As adults, we think that we need to understand it before we can do it. … Our goal is to get it so that you can hear a song, and then you can play it. We are helping your brain to make the connections between the sound and what your fingers do.”

Luke added that those who are convinced they have no musical ability can still benefit using the Toneway method.

“It’s kind of crazy how many people think that they don’t have it,” he said. “Half of the people in the workshops think that they can’t sing, that they can’t carry a tune, that they don’t have a voice. Most people severely underestimate their abilities.”

The Mountain Music Workshop is proof that the Toneway method works. In the course of only three classes, the Abbotts have given their students the tools they need not only to play music, but to jam with others.

Nice article, eh? Seeing the process of discovery that she described is like magic to me. But let me stress: the magic isn’t coming from us, it’s coming from the approach. And our approach is one that can be taken anywhere. You don’t need an Abbott-led class to have the same experience as the students in the article.

(The full article also describes the music and some of the Santa Cruz jam scene.)

Running time: 3:34 seconds.

On Wednesday, we taught the first class in a three-week course that we offer twice a year through Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation. Kyle and I brought the Abbott-y Blogcast camera with us to document the experience. You can see the result above. Pardon me if I sound gushy, but I was (and am) just so excited about helping all these folks get started playing music together! Several of them hadn’t ever played with others before. It was so rewarding!

Last year, we made some big changes to the class to make it easier to teach. Now, anyone can lead a class. No musical talent or teaching experience is required; only a basic understanding of the ToneWay Music Method and a willingness to learn and use the curriculum we’ve prepared. Read Become a Jam Coach for more information.

Can’t wait for next Wednesday!

—Luke

Don first wrote us in September of 2009, asking for information on getting a jam group going in his area. He told us:

I am 63. I’ve set around and accompanied myself on the guitar for years, just strumming and singing, giving little attention to timing or meter. About twice a year, I venture into some jam sessions. I do pretty good on songs I have down well like “Faded Love” or “Red River Valley”, but will tend to break time on other songs.

We suggested that he try our Get Started online workshop, and he ended up ordering our Get Started Plus book and CD. About a month later, here’s the letter we got:

After playing and singing with your book and CD for the past three weeks, I am not only learning to keep the beat using alternating bass notes [illustrated in the book]. I have also picked up on the Picking Patterns and can pick, bow and play “Shady Grove,” “Handsome Molly” and “My Home’s Across the Blue Ridge Mountains” in both G and D keys. AND on four instruments: guitar, fiddle, mandolin, and now tenor banjo!

Again, thank you. After I go through the songs here, I am confident I can go back and play correctly (in time) those songs that I thought I knew!

So, maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks after all!

—Don

p.s. I discovered that when I put the capo in the 7th fret of the tenor banjo I have the same pattern as my fiddle! Glory, it’s a fretted, picking fiddle!

I think part of the reason I (Luke) like this story so much is because of my dad’s story. For decades, Carl’s rhythm skills were, shall we say, meager at best. It was only after diving into this playing-by-ear approach (see About the Project) that his rhythm solidified. It would seem that Don is having a similar, positive experience through learning to play by ear with our method. And he’s only shifted away from TAB a few months ago!

And that jam group he initially wrote us about? Today, after sending out our latest newsletter, I got a brief reply from Don:

Our jams are growing! Every Thursday night from 6pm to 8pm (or later), here in the Amazing Grace Chapel at 216 S. Main St in Sapulpa, OK, 2 blocks south of Historic Route 66. —Don

There you have it, friends. If you find yourself south of Tulsa on a Thursday night, you know where to go!

Have a musical success story to share? Write us!

Getting people connected is key

As we explain in About the Project, playing music with other people—indeed, learning with other people—should be the plan of action right from the start. Inertia will keep beginners isolated. It takes someone with a desire to get folks together to break the ice.

No musical skill is needed in this!

All you need is a desire to help others (and/or yourself). Here’s how:

Get the word out

Network and find folks who play or are interested in playing. Tell your family, friends and acquaintances, people at work, church; use bulletin boards, Craigslist, and the JamPool to connect with people. Most people are, or were, interested in playing music at some point in life. Most were also thwarted in one way or another. So, spread the word: there is an easier, simpler way to play!

Put together an informal jam…

A jam need only be you and one or two others at first; perhaps that guy at work who plays guitar, or someone you met at a music store, etc. Things may go smoother if the participants are familiar with the ToneWay approach, and the “mountain music” style and repertoire (or something like bluegrass, folk, or old-time). Of course, the more the merrier—up to a point anyway. Again, the usual routes of networking (including the JamPool) are called for here.

…or a JamShop

The JamShop is a place where folks come together to learn music in a supportive, mutual-help environment. These “slow jams” are organized by folks who support the goals of the  ToneWay Project. JamShops can be organized by anyone, from the non-player to the accomplished.

We’ll help you organize JamShops through Meetup

Meetup.com is a great service that helps people self-organize into local groups. There are over six million people on Meetup, and over 60,000 groups have been formed.

We set up a Meetup group here in Santa Cruz, and it has proven to be very effective at getting the word out about JamShops.

As an organizer, Meetup costs money. However, we will pay Meetup’s fees for you if you decide to use the service to promote ToneWay-style jams and JamShops. Contact us if you’re interested.

Coaching is another option

You need not be a skilled player. All you need is to have a good sense of the “roots” (of the ToneWay Method). You can find these online in the “Get Started” workshop video and in our books. Needless to say, one of the best ways to acquire a “good sense of the roots” is through attempting to coach others in them.

You can start small, one or two people, if you like. When you feel confident enough and wish to reach out to more folks, let us know. We can help you organize Coached JamShops through Meetup. If you’re interested, here’s some info on becoming a jam coach.

Do our workshop; and get your friends to do it too

If you don’t play, great. Get a stringed instrument and watch our online “Get Started” workshop video. If you already play an instrument, use this video to learn a new instrument^[1], and see for yourself how our approach works.

Tell anyone you know who might be interested in playing music about the workshop video. Better yet, do the video workshop along with them!

Make music part of your future

These are a few ways you can boost your local musical community. Each can also be looked at as an investment. If you desire a future filled with music in your life (as we do), it’s the steps you take today that will get you there. Our job is simply to help in any way we can.

Thank you,
The Abbotts

Footnotes

1. Learning a new instrument is one of the best ways to deepen and expand your understanding of music. Not only will you then have another instrument to play, but your playing overall will improve.

Jam coaches Billy and Ivanna play guitar and sing together in a JamShop.

Helping people learn to play music together can be deeply satisfying. As a jam coach, you are a powerful catalyst for the musical growth of others. Just as importantly, helping others helps you discover steps you have overlooked in your own musical journey.

Not a teacher, you say? No problem. Most ToneWay jam coaches have no teaching experience—in fact, most of our Santa Cruz jam coaches only have a couple years of music experience themselves! Yet the service they provide for beginners is highly valued. Just listen to some of the actual feedback these Santa Cruz jam coaches have received:

The environment at the JamShop is wonderful. Thanks so much for leading us all! —Shannon

It’s wonderful to play with others like this. —Marilyn

We were encouraged to experiment and also got to play along on a song we didn’t know. It was a great experience. —Suzanne

What a wonderfully fun, welcoming place to share music. A very safe place to be a beginner! —Lanakila

[You] were very patient, encouraging and helpful. I really appreciate the opportunity to play together and get feedback. —Sue

Excellent non-obtrusive leadership. Gave us confidence to “try” in spite of goof-ups. Had a lot of fun. —Harriet

Playing music with others is something that I always wanted to do. Now I’m doing it. —Eric

As a Jam Coach, You Can Lead JamShops

The most valuable service jam coaches provide is to organize JamShops in their communities. JamShops are not classes but guided jams, divided into three levels to suit everyone, from the absolute beginner to the more advanced. These create a safe and easy path to “real-world” jamming. Check out the JamShop video if you haven’t already:

And, You Can Introduce Music to Others

Jam coaches can also teach ToneWay “Get Started” group classes in their community. We’ll give you our easy, “no-brainer” curriculum and all the materials you’ll need. For an example of this, see our online “Get Started” workshop video—this presentation models a real-life “introductory class” very closely.

Our Goal: A Jam Coach in Every Community!

Our proven framework, which has been in constant development for past few years, is being made available free of charge to interested volunteers. As a jam coach for the ToneWay Project, you will receive:

• All the materials you’ll need to lead JamShops and teach ToneWay “Get Started” classes, plus general guidelines compiled from years of hands-on experience with jam coaching and teaching.
• A Meetup.com page to help organize your meetings.
  (See the Santa Cruz JamShop Meetup page for an example.)
• Our continued commitment to your success.
  Support is always just an email away!

Interested?

The rest of this article describes the ins and outs of what jam coaches do. It also covers a lot of subtle points about JamShops and ToneWay classes that would not be otherwise obvious. Use the “Pages” selector below to continue reading…

In addition, we have a new, short, easy-to-remember website: ToneWay.com. I’ve been working on the new site since early 2009; much of the changes are “under the hood”, but there are some significant improvements to the JamPool so I hope that makes it even more useful going forward. There are also more changes on the way; more videos, some enhancements to the song collection, perhaps… suggestions welcome!

Finally, we have the new blog. What will show up here? Who knows. Stay tuned!

Cheers,
Luke and the gang