The News from School
The Pleasure of Practice – Week 5
“You have to be able to laugh at yourself. Attitude is almost more important than what happens to you.” - Dick Van Dyke As I was browsing through my phone the other day looking for something else, I found this video I made at the beginning of lockdown. We had been...
The Pleasure of Practice – Week 4
I once saw a sign on the wall behind an online fiddle teacher that said, “Listening is Practicing.” Sounds like the lazy way of practicing, I thought. But after a second think, I realized how much work your brain does listening to other people play the songs you want to learn.
The Pleasure of Practice – Week 3
“Practicing is a form of meditation.” — Frank Hamilton After I graduated high school, I spent a year abroad as an exchange student. If you’ve ever lived in a strange place, you know it can produce a different form of stress. Pretty much every day after I got home...
The Pleasure of Practice – Week 2
Hopefully, you’re finding those fifteen minutes every day to practice. Some time-saving advice comes from several of our instructors - leave your instrument out. George Eckerd suggests, “Hang your instrument on the wall or, if you don't have dogs or small...
The Pleasure of Practice – Week 1
There’s a joke going around social media that I’m going to paraphrase: I used to think I didn’t practice because I didn’t have the time. Then I was in lockdown and discovered that, yeah, that wasn’t the reason! So. Need some ideas and tidbits to get that...
Welcome to Term 2!
This term brings in a few changes for the school--a couple of new teachers, a few new classes, and a new executive director! First, we’re excited to welcome into the teaching ranks Charlie Fisher and Adam Bern! Charlie has been performing as a drummer since he was...
Goodnight, Irene…
I was a student in the Frank Hamilton School’s first Guitar 2 class, taught by Frank himself, in October, 2015. I had been teaching Suzuki violin and experimenting with classical guitar, and the Next Door description of the school sounded like it might be a good place...
Are you listening?
If you’re curious — curious about what your ear can do, curious about what makes this song attractive to you, curious about how it’s put together and how different performers have made it their own — you can’t beat learning by ear.
Shaq tries yodeling with Frank Hamilton
Shaquille O’ Neal gets a yodeling lesson with Frank Hamilton! Watch the video….