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

Reports have slowly been pouring in from visitors telling us that the videos on our site have been freezing. Problem is, it’s a sporadic issue that I have not been able to recreate it on my computer—on any web browser—which makes it a very hard-to-debug bug!

After a couple weeks of racking my brain trying to find a solution, I went ahead and ripped out the player I was using and installed a different one. My hope is that the problem will be gone now—and that a larger problem won’t take it’s place!

So if you had problems before, please try the videos again and let me know how they work for you. And please, please, keep the feedback coming! This website is run by one person (me) and try as I might, I can’t catch all the bugs myself!

Cheers,
—Luke

p.s. – I was thinking I would also post a recap of all the website upgrades and changes we made (by choice or necessity) in the past couple months, but I am getting exhausted (again) just thinking about it. So let’s just say, I am hopeful that we’re entering another period of website stability now, and can turn our attention to bigger and better things—like new videos and products!

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

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