Hs anyone here taken class with Bill? Impressions? Pointers?
Thanks.
I took a workshop with Bill Ochs a month or so ago.
Bill is very much in favor of learning by ear. He’ll give out sheet music of what he’s teaching so as not to make his students uncomfortable. But he’s pretty clear that he’d rather you learned to get by without it. The more advanced the class, the less “forgiving” he is.
If you’re not comfortable learning by ear, you may be able to ask him what tunes he’s going to do in class in advance, so you can study a bit beforehand.
He’s very talented and enthusiastic and adjusts himself to the level of his students .
Good luck,
jb
I just took one day of his two day course this last Saturday. I would recommend him, he is really trying to get down to the roots of the music and does a good job helping the class get down to the essance of the music. I learned that Irish music is much more about the “Lift” than anything else and allot of other stuff. Even though he is a all about the roots of the music he certainly is not anti-ornamentation and I learned a couple cool ornaments that I have never tried before. I also learned more about breathing and where to ornament. I would take his class again if/when he comes around. I missed the second day becouse of a flute class and even though I don’t play the whistle due to my focus on flute I wished I would have attended his class instead.
He’s pretty serious and I wouldn’t go if all your looking for is entertainment. The funniest part of class was when this guy (who thought he was pretty ingenius) was blowing into his fipple practicing the tunes while Bill was trying to talk, he thought he wasn’t being distubing but was actually quit annoying. I was waiting for Bill to say something and when he finally did the annoyed look on his face cracked me up. 
The fipple blower was pretty embarrased, deservedly soo.
Anyway I highly recommend him if your looking for improvement no matter how good you currently are.
Craig
On 2002-02-19 17:01, CraigMc wrote:
Anyway I highly recommend him if your looking for improvement no matter how good you currently are.
Craig
Let’s just say there is LOTS of room for improvement.
Thanks for the input so far. Sounds like he is great. Has anyone taking private classes rather than workshops with him?
I took classes with Bill for several years and both learned a lot and had a great time. What’s really good is that you get to play with a group of players at about your level, so get individual attention plus group playing experience and maybe new friends. Bill is also a great player to listen to and is a truly terrific person. I never saw a down side to studying with him. Although he does favor playing by ear, he is not as unforgiving as say Mary Bergin or some others on that point. I think no matter what he always respects individual taste, style and comfort. Enjoy. Philo