Portland Maine
Tuesday, April 14, 1998
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Dozens of stringed, woodwind and percussive instruments line the walls and shelves at the Longfellow Stringband Studio, on Congress Street at Longfellow Square. Take your pick! Learn to play any of them. Or bring what you own...
Since January, musician and teacher Scott Brown has been offering beginner-to-intermediate music lessons in his comfortable, rustic studio occupying a loft space inside the "Treemendous Fine" Woodworking Shop, located "where Longfellow's right elbow points," says Brown, referring to the location of his building in relation to the statue of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on the square.
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Brown informs and also challenges his students. "Everybody learns at their own pace, although I throw a lot of music at them" he says.
Classes are formatted to provide individual instruction within a group setting. "I bounce from student to student as I see that they need a little facilitating, often joining them on mando, fiddle, keyboard, and so forth, or just playing along with them on a stringbass for the added group sound."
Students are exposed to a mixed bag of classics steered heavily by their own interests, "though rarely do students object to trying anything new," Brown says. Songs they've learned to play include "Ode to Joy"; "Fur Elise"; "Turkey in the Straw"; and "The Flintstone's Theme Song".
He says most traditional music lessons are taught one-on-one, "which is extremely valuable and purposeful," but he believes musicians often lack the real-world, community feeling of a group setting.
"One important component missing," he says of most lesson formats, " is the enjoyment of playing music in a group. I try to get people from the beginning stages to be aware of the other sounds and to use them as something to build upon with their own music. So they can become part of the whole."
Scott Brown plays several instruments ranging from guitars to woodwinds, brass and piano. He has been teaching music to adults and children over the past seven years.
In addition to his lessons at Longfellow Stringband Studio in Portland, he currently teaches students on the islands of North Haven, near Rockland, and Long Island in Casco Bay.
To book a lesson, contact Scott at 207-773-8270.
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