Folks, it really seems like some of us have lost sight of the point in this
thread...a new harper has taken up the instrument, and is asking advice on where
lessons sit on the relative scale of importance. I'm sure the person has gotten
an idea from all of us on how we view the issue.
However.
One of the most common viewpoints expressed on this thread is to try to find a
teacher who will listen, and not force you along the path that they want you to
go on, regardless of your own goals.
See where I'm headed with this?
I've seen a lot of good, and well-intentioned posts regarding this issue. All
have had some good input, and reasons to back them up. But to try to force a
new harper into making what you see as the only 'right' decision, doesn't come
across nearly so helpful. This includes trying to drown out what others are
trying to say, whether by countering their points one by one and showing why
they are wrong, or by trying to draw extra attention to your particular post.
For one thing, it becomes kind of like a debate between two people running for
the same office; often it descends into pointing out what is wrong with the
other candidate, rather than concentrate on what one's good points are. So we
end up choosing the least reprehensible candidate, instead of the best one for
the job, based on the information that we are given. I would be saddened to see
a harper decide to not pursue the harp because of the negative sides of both
taking lessons and learning on one's own.
Adding one's opinion on why lessons are valuable, or learning on one's own, is
great...so is pointing out the possible problems that can occur by choosing to
follow a particular path. Hopefully, with this info, a person can more easily
avoid the mentioned problems; but pointing out why this or that person's point
of view is 'wrong' and that one's own is 'right', or trying to get a person to
ignore other people's input, is not constructive.
BTW, the posts that I have seen that fall under this heading to me are in the
minority; I just thought that it might help to point this out. If not, I hope
you deleted this before now!
Thanx...
Sean