Klarinet Archive - Posting 000688.txt from 1998/04

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: budget cutbacks
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1998 09:45:10 -0400

On Tue, 14 Apr 1998, Lee Hickling wrote:

> Roger Garrett wrote:
> >......it is difficult to teach music within a band curriculum.

> Lee Hickling wrote:
> Oh, boy. Roger, have you ever pushed one of my buttons. Stand back.

> What I saw in the band methods was a lockstep system in which beginning
> trombonists, clarinetists, trumpeters, percussionists and what have you are
> all compelled to progress at approximately the same rate. On top of this,
> they make ensemble performance the primary goal right from the start.

I too find this to be problematic. Too much emphasis on reaching a
certain page in the book and playing a certain piece for concert than
focusing on important fundamentals that will make great musicians in the
long run. Almost no singing or aural counting but lots of playing and
ensemble work.

> Along with their other faults, the band method clarinet books push a
> student into the clarion register almost immediately, which I consider to
> be very harmful. I want a student's embouchure to be well formed, with
> physical habits that are correct and a technique fairly well developed in
> the chalumeau register, before she or he ventures to depress that register
> key.

Absolutely correct! I still use an old clarinet class method for my
beginners that was published by Carl Fischer in the '40's....the Paul
VanBodegraven Method. Stays low for a long time, but has fun, appropriate
melodies and etudes. Even has a few nice duets for the beginner. It
introduceds tonguing and register change in such a great way....and at the
right time....

Regarding challenges:
> Perhaps they are thought to be motivational devices, and they may be - but
> what they teach is that if you're not first chair, first desk, you are a
> failure. Music is a collaborative art. Playing in a band or orchestra is a
> great experience, and rewarding for its own sake, but in addition to that
> it can teach something today's kids need to know - that cooperation is a
> lot more rewarding than competition.

If handled well, they do not have to focus on failure. But, handled
poorly, they can certainly make students feel badly.

> All of which brings me back to the topic of this thread, budget cuts. The
> root reason for the problems I believe I see with much public school music
> teaching is inadequate budgets. Music is not thought to be an integral,
> essential part of education. It once was. Trust me. I was there. I learned,
> and later taught in, schools where this was the philosophy. In addition, my
> graduate degree is in school administration. Today there are too few music
> teachers, with too little time to do an adequate job, and too many demands
> on their time, including a crushing load of unproductive meetings,
> paperwork and conferences that often accomplish nothing except to justify
> the job of some second-level administrator.

Well stated and thoughtfully written.

Roger Garrett
IWU