Klarinet Archive - Posting 000744.txt from 1996/02

From: "Gregory T. Wright" <103147.1471@-----.COM>
Subj: Mr. Holland stuff...
Date: Sun, 25 Feb 1996 01:26:35 -0500

Hi all! I FINALLY got out to see "Mr. Holland's Opus".
Before I mention my thoughts on the movie, let me tell you a bit about
myself. That way, maybe it will be easier for you to see how I got all these
corny ideas...
I teach music, in an urban public school system. Like Mr. Holland, the
job I hoped and trained for is not *precisely* the one I am doing. During
college, my major was Music Education; my minor was Instrumental. Knowing how
things are in the real world, I took Choir, Chamber Singers (at CS MOTT
Community College, Flint MI) and Voice Class, and both Secondary _AND_
Elementary Music Methods (at Northern Michigan University, in Marquette) so that
my State certification, which would read "K-12 Music", would not be a boastful
lie. Still, Middle and/or High School Instrumental Music was where I thought I
was headed. Instead, my assignment is to teach Vocal music 3/5 of the time,
and Instrumental music 2/5 of the time, split evenly between two elementary
schools. My total "case load" is over 1000 students. I love to teach children
music - I love to watch the conceptual "door" open and the "lightbulb" begin to
shine. I have been struck once or twice in the past by the similarity of a
musical "lightbulb", and Hellen Keller's "W-A-T-E-R" breakthrough. As you can
likely tell, this is important to me. What slows things down is the incredible
number of "hoops" which teachers are made to jump through, while they are
"wagged" as the school system's "tails". (Could that be a _mixed metaphore_?)
Enough of that for now - back to Mr. Holland...
The scene where the clarinetist leaves the instrument on the stand (!)
overnight, and then immediately plays on a DRY reed, is a bit farfetched, but
IMHO it is not because of the reed's instant response. The focus of the scene
was a player having chronic trouble "getting across the break". She immediately
plays expressively with the right fingers-n-face (and a touch of vibrato too, I
think. hmmm...) once the notation is removed and is told to play her HEART with
the notes she already knows. Somehow, if you watch her left hand first finger,
it is DOWN on the low note now, and there is no squeak.
This is admittedly only my fourth year of full-time employment, but thi
s
turnaround seems too immediate to me. A great music teacher gave me a
correction for one of society's proverbs which has helped me ever since:

Practice does NOT make perfect! Instead , P R A C T I C E M A K E S
_ P_E_R_M_ A_ N_ E_ N_ T_ !!!!

Relearning the Break coordination should have been a project for the nex
t
several years (decades?). Nevertheless, I found this movie to be a wonderful
tribute to music educators. Mr. Holland explains to his wife how he replayed a
recording which he had initially hated, over and over, until he could not stop.
"All those notes..." That is when he decided to make music his life. In this
scene, Mr Holland goes on to explain his drive and passion (PLATONIC! STOP THE
SNICKERS!) for music education. At that point, I very nearly had tears in my
eyes. The idea seemed ... familiar to me (something similar appears on my
resume).
Other scenes seemed quite familiar, too. One of Mr. Holland's
predicaments inspired an emotion in me which was very similar to one I felt
briefly last summer. I received a letter from my Fine Arts Department, and as I
opened it the first thing visible was the color pink. AHHHHHHHHHH! DOOM! It
was really a reminder memo to all of the music teachers, giving the date of our
first staff meeting of the school year. It was NOT a "pink slip." Whew!
Even a student's "Hi, Mr. Holland"-and-wave felt powerfully emotional
to me due to the circumstances of the moment. I have been on the receiving end
of "Hi, Mr. Wright" <shy wave and embarrased grin> enough times to let me
identify strongly with Mr. Holland's problems at that point in the film.
In short,
GOOD STUFF! (even IF the "American Symphony" was
performed by the London Phil.)
Gregory T. Wright
103147.1471@-----.com