Theremin teachers in Portland, OR

I hear it is always a good idea to get lessons when starting out on any instrument to get the proper techniques down. Are there any theremin teachers in Portland, OR?

Theremin teachers? You're kidding, right?

Look, there's one professional theremin instructor on Earth, and she lives in Moscow, Russia.

If you want, you could try to meet someone local and see if they're willing to give you a few tips, although I doubt if you're going to learn much more from a local person than you are from talking to people here and watching Peter Pringle's DVD. You can try to meet someone local at:
http://theremin.meetups.com/

We have a (slowly) growing list of theremin teachers at http://www.thereminworld.com/teachers.asp.

Tom's idea of the meetups website is great too. You can probably easily find someone who can show you the basics that way.

But, as far as professional teachers goes, there just aren't many options today. Part of the goal of "world thereminization" is to promote the instrument to the degree that things like this are no longer an issue.

I'll be in Portland and happy to find a few students from June 30th - July 7th. Doing a demo at Control Voltage Tuesday June 30th at 7

Unlike traditional instruments which have established techniques for playing them, the theremin has no universally accepted method. Everybody plays differently. Even the most basic things - how to stand, how and where to hold your arm and hand, etc. - vary greatly from player to player. That’s why you should never take advice on how to play the theremin from anyone whose playing you have not heard, or do not like.

 

Although there is no “right” or “wrong” way to play the theremin, there are methods that will help you get where you want to go and others that will ultimately hinder your progress, even though they seemed O.K. at first.

 

The future of your theremin playing is largely determined by the kind of instrument you decide to buy. The first mistake most people make is to base this important decision on price. “I’m gonna get a cheap theremin, learn how to play it, then graduate to a better one later on if I like it.” 

 

This may seem reasonable, but what beginners don’t realize is that there’s a good chance they will ultimately be defeated by poor linearity and configuration (two terms they have probably never heard of).

 

Another thing that seems to influence new buyers is RANGE. “WOW man! This theremin is really great! It has a 7 octave range!” When I was little I had a copy of the complete Oxford English Dictionary printed on a postage stamp. There was just one problem. YOU COULDN’T READ IT. That’s the problem with the 7 octave range on the theremin - YOU CAN’T PLAY IT. You can make noise and FX with it, but you can’t play melody accurately. Bob Moog solved the problem of range by providing his theremins with a switch for low, mid, and high range settings. 

 

 

“The most important thing for a beginner thereminist is to know where you want to end up, before you start out.” Clara Rockmore

' Bob Moog solved the problem of range by providing his theremins with a switch for low, mid, and high range settings.' - coalport

 

Correction: Bob Moog only put that facility on the Etherwave Pro, the MOOG flagship theremin.

(You, coalport, of all people should have stated that more correctly!)