Klarinet Archive - Posting 000656.txt from 1998/06

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Beginner students
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 1998 12:41:12 -0400

On Fri, 19 Jun 1998, Joseph Nassar wrote:

> 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.

As is often the case, jazz musicians have a way of succinctly coming to
the heart of the matter. A common axiom in jazz is, "No one can teach
beyond their conception." "Conception" is a word which in jazz can mean
various things, such as understanding, comprehension, and expertise in
aural skills. So, in order to teach an instrument, or to teach
improvising, or whatever it may be, the teacher must have a deep and
comprehensive understanding of the subject being taught and the problems
that students are likely to encounter in learning. That is not to say
that even the teacher in the field of jazz must be able to perform at a
high professional level of accomplishment on every instrument.

Ed Lacy
el2@-----.edu

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