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| Moderated by: Tony Provencher, Richard Hefner |
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| Thoughts of George Gao | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Sat Feb 28th, 2009 03:49 am |
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1st Post |
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jawxin Approved
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So I bit and paid $15 for a video lesson from a well known erhu player, George Gao. He's a very virtuosic musician and I've seen "sneak peaks" of his lessons so was intrigued. However, I watched Erhu Lesson One (which was about 13ish minutes long with the first minute and a half of him playing) and had mixed feelings about it. I guess i was expecting a quality lesson, ie. sound, explanation, camera, so i shouldn'tve had too high of an expectation because he did explain things fairly well (me being a musician already, so diction and concepts weren't a problem). So word of advice. It is a good video, I would recommend watching it (but definetely not for 15 bucks), but also know that 1. being online 2. being a video and 3. it's a first lesson, you won't get very far with only this one video. You have to, like anything else, practice what he has mentioned because ultimately, you get what you put in. and for me, because i'm practicing my butt off, this video actually helps me, because i analyze his movements, listen to the sound he gets, and practice the concepts he tells me to. -Jaw
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| Posted: Sat Feb 28th, 2009 04:46 am |
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2nd Post |
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Clyde Approved 
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So many that have come across Mr Gao's Web site and have bought his lesson DVD, and I have herd many of their complaints there has been not one positive statement without some kind of negative remark. First I would like to explain that Mr Gao is on the edge of traditional and modern music and for that he has worked hard and he is a professional performer and musician. Keeping this in mind for a little of his time 15 bucks is a very small amount but you could also get four times as much education from one of Sung Wah's online videos. If you were to have a lesson from a teacher of the Erhu this would cost you 35 dollars for a half hour now if this lesson is from a professional performer well lets just say that could go as high as 300 dollars an half hour if he or she would take the time to teach. I too would not recommend purchasing the DVD from Mr. Gao however who ever does it is still very much worth his time. He is a great musician an should be highly respected for his talent and his hard work and I am sure you do as well. God Bless Last edited on Sat Feb 28th, 2009 09:04 pm by Clyde |
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| Posted: Sat Feb 28th, 2009 09:59 pm |
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3rd Post |
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davidmdahl Approved
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In my own experience, the cost of music lessons is all over the board, and there is not necessarily a correlation between the cost and quality of teaching. It is certainly not necessary for erhu lessons to cost a fortune, so I hope prospective students will not be scared off from looking. In the USA at least, an erhu artist will not likely live on concertizing alone, and will teach. The number of students who will pay $300 for a half hour lesson is indeed quite small, and I am certainly not in that group. I would think that $40 - $60 per hour is closer, and much less than that is not uncommon. I don't know how useful the Gao videos are, but I find the direct feedback from my teacher to be crucial. If you have no access to a master teacher, then videos are are better than nothing. I agree that Sung Wah's videos are a great place to start. Best wishes, David
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| Posted: Sun Mar 1st, 2009 03:24 pm |
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4th Post |
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dsouthwood Approved 
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I would be interested in seeing what others pay for lessons. Here in San Diego both my guzheng and erhu teachers charge $30 for a 40-minute lesson. Dennis
____________________ Music contains all of life. |
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| Posted: Thu May 7th, 2009 03:16 am |
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5th Post |
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tiannaidan Approved 
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I bought the lesson one video.Ok..yeah it isn't the most professional piece of work.The editing is bad,etc. but there is a lot of good information in it.I just bought the left hand shifting video and it is much better.Good information and is edited better.(no phone calls this time hehe).I have seen previews of his other videos and they look like the left hand shifting.I would recommend these highly.In u.s. currency they are only 13 bucks.Hey that's a good deal for pro advice.He is taking time from his busy life to put these together so give him some credit.
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| Posted: Thu May 7th, 2009 10:47 pm |
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6th Post |
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tao1952 Approved
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Hi, I have just joined and like your community. You are a friendly bunch. I bought my first erhu two weeks ago from Sung Wah and I am practicing every day. Its a bit different from playing the violin! I bought all the learning videos from George Gau (for lack of an Erhu teacher in Germany). I found that everything I need is there for me, the rest must just be hard work and a certain degree of optimism! I have a question: Do you have to grow hard skin on the ends of the left-hand fingers from playing the ornaments, or am I doing something wrong? Comments would be greatly appreciated. Tao1952
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| Posted: Sun May 10th, 2009 12:49 am |
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7th Post |
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Clyde Approved
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tao1952 wrote: Hi, Tao, Frist off welcome to this forum, and yes just about everyone here is very very helpful with anything you may need in the way of information and probelems you may have . Keep in mind that problem that someone has some on here may have the answer for it or it will make everyone have a beter understanding of these problems. Now anyone who knows me knows that I stress bow tequnics everything is in your bow and the feeling of the strings , BUT as a violinist you know this already and oddly enough one does not need to have rough leather finger tips BUT as a violinist the odd part is getting use to not haveing the finger board to pin the sting to, to also get it to sound!!!! this is common and will take time and many hours of practice and I am sure your use to this. it all comes from the heart and soul it is best played in the dark with no distractions at all. good luck on your journey and again Welcome God Bless
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| Posted: Sun May 10th, 2009 06:56 am |
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8th Post |
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tao1952 Approved
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Thank you very much, Clyde Tao 1952
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| Posted: Sun Jun 7th, 2009 05:07 pm |
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9th Post |
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kailam77 Approved
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I've downloaded a few George Gao videos and, while I agree they're not all professional quality, they do offer good information and a few key points that differ from other videos. I think it's good, if you've got the money to spend, to get a few different sources of information - especially from people like Gao who are obviously very good at what they do - because each one will have a slightly different take on things and give you that much more to think about and experiment with. Not having access to an instructor, the videos are the best I'm going to get in terms of training right now, so I am appreciative of any source of knowledge. I really liked the Engligh-subtitled VCD from eason, http://www.eason.com.sg/products/books/mb14.jsp.
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| Posted: Sun Jun 7th, 2009 06:37 pm |
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10th Post |
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tao1952 Approved
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Hello Kailam 77, I would be interested to know what other sources you have apart from Eason and George Gao. I also do not have access to an instructor here in Germany and have to rely on video lessons. I would appreciate any suggestions
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| Posted: Sun Jun 7th, 2009 11:20 pm |
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11th Post |
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kailam77 Approved
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Hi tao! Actually, Eason and Gao are the only real sources I've found. But I'm new here, and I'm sure others on this forum have a better authority on what's available online. My personal non-authoritative suggestion would be to go through all the free videos in the Eason 'resources' page, http://www.eason.com.sg/resources/resources.jsp, then check out the fairly inexpensive English-subtitled VCD I linked to above. I'm assuming English resources will be adequate, although your native language may be German? If you then want to look into the Gao videos, the Lesson 1 video just gave a few slightly different takes on things vs. the eason videos, which I found useful. What I want now is a step-by-step video for learning a specific song, which I believe Gao has. If someone knows exactly where to find something like that, let us know!!
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| Posted: Mon Jun 8th, 2009 08:30 pm |
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12th Post |
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tao1952 Approved
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Thanks kailam77, I already bought all the Gao videos and have checked out the Eason info. There is a song called Lady Meng-Jiang from George Gau which has a lot of intonation and ornaments and you can find the same song from a beginner on You-Tube.... Its just called "an erhu beginner". I actually learned more from comparing the two than from anything else up to now. I was just hoping you had found something else... never mind. By the way Im a Brit, living in Germany.
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