Ira Gitlin

Submitted by Monster1971 on 12/29/2015

Overall Comments

This is repetitive as expected as with the other reviews of Ira. If I could describe Ira w/ one word it would be Dynamic.  It has been one year since I first started taking lessons w/ Ira and I feel pretty lucky. He offers two separate locations which is helpful (one in MD and one in VA) and I have been to both. He teaches the Wernick Method and every lesson he has both his Banjo and Guitar. When he pulls out that guitar and starts to sing, we actually jam together........or rather he is very patient and provides guidance and lessons while I am trying to jam with him, following the chords.  I cannot over emphasize how patient Ira is with me and my blank stares have to sometimes cause him concern but he doesn't let on. He walks me through each new lesson while being patient balancing both, allowing me to fail a few times, with providing guidance. He's pulled up songs trying to get me to understand or hear that certain lick that Earl or a Bluegrass Boy was playing. During the lesson he wants you to learn the music by listening rather than tablature. Because of this I feel I lean on tablature much less than at the beginning of my banjo journey. Most lessons build upon another and before I know it I am mixing up licks from songs, attempting to play breaks, and mixing rolls and chords. He sometimes launches into a Bluegrass history lesson to put perspective around a certain sound. I have to assume not many can do that. I walk away from each lesson with that feeling that I almost have it and with a little more  practice I can nail it. I have never felt uncomfortable by the tempo of his lesson. I am assuming, because of his years of experience he can sense how much to push during each lesson. At the end of each lesson he summarizes the lesson w/ a walkthrough that I record and can reference when home practicing. He has responded to my emails for additional understanding.

A little background:

After the teacher search in the MD/DC/VA area I did find Ira's listing but didn't take the leap at first due to the distance from my home. I first started this journey (w/ pretty much no music experience at all) by taking an initial 30 minute class w/ an instructor at Guitar Center, which she so politely told me that I didn't need pics to play Scrugg style. Feeling confused, I moved on to an instructor at a local music store closer to my house and w/ a Groupon took 4 (30 minute) lessons. This instructor was a good guy but something just didn't feel right. I don't know if it was the fact that his lesson consisted of flipping through a Banjo book or it was only a 30 minute lesson. It just felt so stiff and I always had this unsatisfied feeling once the lesson ended. Not knowing anything about teaching Banjo myself, I pretty much thought that it wasn't much different than just following along in a book.....I got the feeling that I could just get by on my own. I told myself I would give it one more try and decided to give in to the one hour drive (one way) and I called Ira and set up that first lesson.

Wow, I am sure glad Ira had openings. I still remember my first lesson. After the initial meet and greet and background basics, he grabs his guitar and asked, show me what you can play. After a blank stare wondering why he is holding a guitar I launch into my rolls and did a hatchet job of Cripple Creek. I don't mind the commute to Ira's lesson b/c I honestly feel that I get my money's worth.

My banjo journey started w/ me wanting to learn 10 songs. After 3 months I could get by w/ playing three songs and learning those other seven have now taken a backseat thanks to Ira. He has helped open my eyes to what it means to play the banjo. One day I will get around to learning to play those seven songs, in the meantime I will be learning to just play the banjo. Thanks Ira.

Overall Rating: 10