Lessons in SF Bay Area

Hi Folks,

I was wondering if any one knew of someone teaching theremin lessons in San Francisco or some where close by. I've done some googling, and searched on craigslist but haven't found any one.

Any help would be much appreciated.

The theremin is not like traditional instruments because there is no established, universally accepted way to play it. There is no "right way" or "wrong way" and everybody has their own ideas about to approach it. Never take any advice on how to play the theremin from anyone whose playing you have not heard, and NEVER take lessons from anyone you do not want to end up sounding like.

Clara Rockmore, the greatest theremin player who ever lived, once said "If you want to learn the theremin, you must always know where you want to end up before you start out".

The kind of music you will be able to play accurately and consistently on the theremin will be largely determined by the technique you are using. If you learn to play using a method that is not suited to the sort of thing you want to perform, you will hit a brick wall and have to go back and start all over again.

I know because that's what happened to me.

The best thing to do is to imitate, to the best of your ability, the playing of your favorite thereminist - and keep on doing that until your own unique style and musical personality begin to emerge on their own.

The important thing to remember with the theremin, an instrument in which EVERYBODY IS AN EXPERT, is that everybody is not an expert.



"People expect to go over to the theremin and IT PLAYS. No! It takes hard work, sensitivity, sensibility....attention to detail. You have to learn it and it's not easy. The music comes from the heart, the mind, and years and years and years of the study of music." Clara Rockmore

You should add Carolina Eyck to your Facebook friends. So you will be able to follow her travel plans. She was recently in SF and I know that she's always ready to teach besides her rehearsal and performance duties.

What if our new friend "j2043" wants to play the theremin like Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, or like John Spencer of Blues Explosion? Nothing could be further from Carolina in technique and musical approach.

I think this is why Clara Rockmore said that you need to know where you want to go BEFORE you begin playing the theremin.

Carolina is the right theremin teacher for those people who want to play the theremin like Carolina.

I'd like to study with that Peter Pringle guy, but he lives in the middle of nowhere and he's such a mean sunuvabitch I probably wouldn't last more than one lesson!

"I'd like to study with that Peter Pringle guy, but he lives in the middle of nowhere and he's such a mean sunuvabitch I probably wouldn't last more than one lesson!"

Are you saying that you cannot endure being in the entourage of your own company? ...

Anyway -

I think the Theremin is a journey that will lead you onto many different pathes. You might know what you want at first, but then a while later, you discover you'd like to try something else. It's like you really like Spaghetti sauce with Meatballs, but then all of a sudden you decide to try it with Turkey meat instead. Nothing wrong with that! Spice is the variety of life!

I would see many advantages to study with a good teacher like Carolina even though you might not play like her later. It's a good base until you find something that works for you and add a personal touch to your playing. You'll know the basic of Theremin knowledge like tuning, aerial fingering, volume expression etc. You don't have to stay with a certain teaching style for long, but at least for a little bit until you grasp what a theremin is and what it is capable of accomplishing depending who stands behind it and do what they want to do.

I know we all love (I do too) Clara Rockmore and we all love to quote her often. She had very good points and ideas ~ and to this day, she is still one of the best Thereminists who have ever walked the earth. But she doesn't have all the answers about this instrument because she is Clara Rockmore and not Joe Schmoe in the year 2011. I repect her dedication and advice on how to play the theremin, but ultimately, it is a personal journey and there is not right or wrong in the way you decide to go about it. As long as feel that you are "getting something out of it", and that you feel that you are "growing" as a person, then by all means - Do what you like!

[i]"but he lives in the middle of nowhere and he's such a mean sunuvabitch"[/i]

... one day I'll ring unexpectedly your doorbell and have a bottle of French red wine and my newest pitch preview module for the Big Briar 91A with me. Will you open the door?

Amey: "I would see many advantages to study with a good teacher like Carolina even though you might not play like her later. "

Then for you, she would be an excellent teacher but she might not be an excellent teacher for someone else.

"Do what you like!"

Sounds suspiciously like "Do what thou wilt!" the mantra of the late Aleister Crowley.

AAAAGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!

[Theremin FX up and fade....]

Amey: "Clara Rockmore........is still one of the best thereminists...."


The situation in regard to Clara Rockmore and the theremin is unique compared to other instruments. With traditional musical instruments, there is always a new batch of exciting young virtuosos constantly rising as the older generation fades. Often this new crop of musicians has studied with the older artists, and often they outshine their teachers.

This has not happened with the theremin. As Bob Moog pointed out, Clara Rockmore stands alone as "The Greatest Theremin Virtuosa" who has ever lived. It is a widely held opinion, particularly among professional musicians, that no one has ever approached her level of pure technique and musicianship on the instrument. She is not "one of the best thereminists", she is by far THE best. No one, either in her day or in ours, has even come up to the tops of her little Russian booties.

We live in a time when it is politically incorrect to suggest that not everyone is an expert but it seems to me we have confused "everyone has a right to his or her opinion" with "everyone's opinion is correct".

Not long ago, there was a major TIME magazine article on "young earth creationism". This is the belief that the world was created in six 24 hour days somewhere between 6 and 10 thousand years ago. The editors were very deferential and respectful in regard to those who hold this belief and gave them quite a bit of space in the magazine. The whole tone of the article suggested that these religious dogmas were on a par with the scientific and geological evidence suggesting that the earth is about 4 billion years old, and that the two viewpoints should be considered equal in every way. Believers in young earth creationism think it should be taught in schools as science.

The problem with young earth creationism is that it's wrong. It is also wrong to teach it to children since it will ultimately put them at a tremendous disadvantage in the coming decades.

Joe Theremin (aka Joe Schmoe) is also wrong, except in the theater of his own mind.

Joe (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi69hDPupGs)


There are plenty of people giving theremin lessons today who, judging from their own performances on the instrument, should probably not be giving them.

Well, I was just wondering, did you learn to play your theremin?

I'm also looking for someone in SF to give me a little guidance.

I mean, this is really sad but, I can't figure out how to "tune" my new etherwave. I keep following the written directions but when I step back to zero beat and think I've got it and start to try to play I encounter another silence right in the middle of the space between me and the pitch antennae.
Whuh? Can anybody explain what that is? What am I doing wrong?
I'm sort of sad because in my mind I am a great theremin player, like my hair stands on end and I turn electric blue and the instrument becomes an extension of myself. But in reality I can't pass Go.
Somebody help me!

Etanna,
If you need immediate help - you can alway email Thomas Grillo. Look for him on Google. His charge is VERY modest for the quality of advice that he gives. He'll be able to help you, I am certain. He has given me help over the last months - over skype. I know people snob "Theremin lessons" over Skype - but it beats not knowing what you are doing, developing bad technique and just plain frustration...

Edited to add:

Etanna wrote: "I'm sort of sad because in my mind I am a great theremin player, like my hair stands on end and I turn electric blue and the instrument becomes an extension of myself. But in reality I can't pass Go."

Trust me, that will not be the case... At least not for the first 2 years. Getting your Theremin tuned is the first frustration, and many will surely follow (not to rain on your parade) ... Unless you are a theremin Prodigy.