Learning With Doc Higgins

Introduction

NOTE: this site and this page are still being developed

Doc Higgins is an educator with a Ph.D. in educational technology. His focus in this activity is on providing tools, resources, and interaction to facilitate online learning.

Doc Higgins has developed the "Just Play It" method for learning ukulele, guitar, piano, ubass, music theory, and songwriting. The two main components of the "Just Play It" method are:

To help people play the music they enjoy, easily, by themselves or in a group as quickly as possible. Rather than working through a lot of theory details and playing less interesting songs, the "Just Play It" method helps learners move easily to being able to play the music they like (and the songs they write), either independently (solo) or accompanying others (backup and jamming).
To help people see and understand the patterns in music and how they appear on the guitar, ukulele, and ubass fingerboard, and on the piano keyboard. Most people are quite good at recognizing and remembering patterns. In fact, pattern recognition is a natural conscious and unconscious function of the brain. Thousands of songs are more easily understood, and more easily played once a very few musical patterns are recognized and applied.

All lessons cover guitar, ukulele, or ubass, plus piano/keyboards for music theory. Guitar and Ukulele lessons start with chords and strumming and progress to some lead bits, then flat-picking, then finger-picking. Ubass starts with simple patterns and finger positions, then more complex bass runs. Piano notes and patterns of the keys are taught initially, followed by chord shapes and simple playable scales. Music theory is introduced gradually in ways that provide support for improved playing and musicianship. Songwriting starts with standard popular music patterns and styles, and shows how lyrics can be added. Songwriting then moves to ideas for songs and ways to write the lyrics that reflect what you want to say.

Further information and planning will be provided here. Check back again soon.