Klarinet Archive - Posting 000173.txt from 1997/07

From: Nicholas Yuk Sing Yip <nyip@-----.edu>
Subj: instruction and technique
Date: Sun, 6 Jul 1997 18:47:07 -0400

I had no intentions of insulting anybody or starting anything, however,
if I did I apologize. My grammar, especially at 11 P.M. Let's talk clarinet!
All of your advice was well appreciated. Over the last five I have had
four different instructors.For the sake of privacy I will keep my clarinet
teachers anonymous, although they will know who I am. I started my
clarinet instruction during the summer prior to my enrollment at
California State University Northridge. Once at Northridge I had another
clarinet instructor who preffered to teach techniques prior to
literature.I was at Northridge for only one year because I got into
trouble so my parents pulled me out. The next school I was with another
clarinet instructor who had a different way of teaching. I was only with
him for one year because he was very busy. The following year I had
another instructor who preferred that I play a different way then I had
learned from the previous instructor. Next year, as a transfer student, I
am off to UC Santa Cruz and I will be studying with another instructor for
hopefully more than one year.I had not much of a choice to stick with
someone for more than year, since I got into trouble. From each one of
them I learned something whether it was embouchure or fingers. The
difficulty for me when I adapt and learn something new is that it
sometimes takes me awhile to catch on. Everytime I make a mistake I can
tell that my past instructors or professors are very frustrated or
agitated(they are great instructors, not screwed up) at me. I do not sit
very well with frustration and agitation. I go home and practice over and
over again I make mistakes and I become frustrated and angry and start
thinking what the instructor is going to say the next time. I have learned
things by thinking on my own, however I have made mistakes some
instructors have become frustrated. If I am going to make mistakes, how can
I please everyone and think for myself without someone becoming agitated
or frustrated? It seems like that I have to be somewhere in a hurry.If
time kills students how is our teacher? Sometimes there have seem to been
more frustration than encouragement. I guess that is part of the learning
process.
To Tonya:
Taking one or two keys at a time, starting with the simple ones,
seemed to work for me in learning my arpeggios and scales. However,
everyone has different learning abilities and learning does require
time and patience.
Karl Krelove
"Time is the best teacher; unfortunately, it kills all its students!"
[Already at end of message]
Nick Yip
nyip@-----.edu