Klarinet Archive - Posting 000651.txt from 1998/06

From: "Joseph Nassar" <jsnassar@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Beginner students
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 1998 12:15:39 -0400

>I tend to disagree with this. "If you can't play, then you can't teach" is
>quite different from "If you can't teach, then you can't play." True,
>teaching is an art, but if you can't teach, you certainly can become a
>great player- one has nothing to do with the other. However, "If you can't
>play," how would you know WHAT to teach? There is a great difference
>between "playing the notes" and "playing from the heart." Great players
>imbue their performances with phrasing and emotion that comes from beyond
>the printed page. If those qualities are a mystery to you as a teacher,
>how DO you teach them. You can't. So "If you can't play, then you can't
>teach" really IS a valid statement.

Certainly. I did not mean to imply that a non-musician could become a
successful teacher. . . on any instrument. GTGallant simply stated in his
original post that most teachers "couldn't play their way out of a wet paper
bag." This is the point to which I was referring. It is impossible to
become a virtuoso on every instrument taught in the school music programs.
Many work their whole lives to master one. Of course teachers in school
music programs should be good musicians. Absolutely! However, to suggest
that one must be a master of every instrument in order to teach them is
absurd. When a student does reach the point that he/she is beyond the
capabilities of the school instructor, he/she should be sent on to a
specialist on that instrument. It is when we cease to continue our efforts
to improve our skills, and the skills of our students, in EVERY area that we
settle for mediocrity.

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