Klarinet Archive - Posting 000234.txt from 1997/02

From: Stan Geidel <sgeidel@-----.NET>
Subj: Musical literacy
Date: Sat, 8 Feb 1997 10:44:47 -0500

For general discussion:

After many years in the music profession
(more than I care to admit to!) I find that
I remain very concerned about the general level
of musical literacy found in music performance
majors. It has always been my observation that
students of music education, history, theory,
and composition are generally able to discuss the
tools of their respective arts, sometimes in
a rather sophisticated and informed manner.
It seems to me, however, that students pursuing
the applied musical arts generally lag behind
in their ability to communicate--sometimes on
even an intermediate level--about the basic
elements of musical performance.

For example:
--How many upper-class undergraduates
(and graduate students for that matter) have a
ready knowledge of the common descriptive terms
in German, Italian, and French that we see
virtually every day in musical scores?
--How many budding performers, who in their
own minds are ready to take on the clarinet
world, can read more than one clef? (How is
someone to study the score of say, a quintet
for clarinet and strings if they cannot
read the treble, alto, and bass clefs?)
--How many performers really possess an
understanding of the various gradations of
note-length?
--How many students, when asked why they
play a piece in a certain manner, respond
by saying either (1) "I don't know, I just
"feel it" that way; (2) because [Clarinetist
X] plays it that way; (3) because "it's
Brahms" (or whoever composed the music).
In other words, how many students can discuss
the process involved in making interpretive
decisions? To ask this in another way:
How many performance majors can discuss
musical style without using subjective terms
that may mean something entirely different
to their discussion partner?
--How many clarinet students could reasonably
explain why the clarinet is a transposing
instrument?

I've long felt that the general level of
musical literacy is embarrassingly low
with regard to music performance majors.

Thus, two questions:

1. Do you agree with my statement that
the general level of literacy among
performance majors is very low?

2. Does (or did) your school offer courses
in basic musicianship or basic musical literacy
in which terms, score reading, articulations,
and other general concepts were taught? Or, was
it assumed this would be covered in the applied
music studio?

Thanks. I look forward to your responses.
Stan Geidel
---------------------------------------
Dr. Stan Geidel
Editor, The Online Clarinet Resource
Articles, Reviews, Lessons, More!
http://sneezy.mika.com/ocr