We've considered him a friend for nearly a decade, still it was an incredible privilege, the honor of interviewing one of mandolin pedagogy's greatest active resources, Professor John McGann of the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston. Our third contribution to the highly popular Mandolin Cafe "10 Questions" series was able to catch the artist/teacher between semesters (and tours!) and ask some challenging questions. The result: many pages of unadulterated mando enlightenment.

From the article: "Some people bristle at the notion of music being approached like a science, but science is the notion of a "repeatable experiment proving a truth. Theory won't make you a less soulful player. Your soul is impervious to anything as non-cosmic as theory! It won't make you a mechanical player if you aren't already a mechanical player, and it won't help you be less mechanical either. That's not theory's job. Theory is getting under the hood and understanding how the car works, what all those belts do, why there are pistons, what actually makes the wheels go around, why the car doesn't start, etc. Yes, you can drive without knowing all that stuff, but if you want to design a car (or some music...)"

Take the time to dig into the mind of this articulate multi-instrumentalist with this incredible interview!

Read: 10 Questions for John McGann

Artist website: John McGann
John McGann YouTube
Berklee Faculty Profile

Posted by Ted at July 27, 2011 5:52 AM