Klarinet Archive - Posting 000660.txt from 1998/06

From: Shouryu Nohe <jnohe@-----.edu>
Subj: [kl] Beginner Students
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 1998 13:26:04 -0400

I'll admit that there are a few educators out there who can't play their
way out of a paper bag and stuff. But I think (my opinion of course) that
there is a fine line.

My director was a fine player. We got to hear him play maybe once a year
or so, and when we did, we were always superbly impressed. He played
euphonium and as a secondary, he liked to play contra-alto clarinet
(because of this, he demanded a fantastic amount of excellence from his
bass and contra clarinetists).
He couldn't play EVERY instrument fantastically. I know that there were
probably quite a few instruments that he could barely play his way out of
a wet paper bag with. But he did know the basic knowledge of all the wind
instruments. I saw him play nearly all of them. During basketball band,
sometimes we'd be missing some voices. So he'd hand the conducting
responsibilities over to the previous season's drum major and pick up
whatever instrument we didn't have for the night.
Granted, it doesn't take a lot of prowess to play high school pep
band music. But the fact that he did it without a second thought was
inspiring.
And that's a lot of what made him a great teacher and conductor -
he was INSPIRING. He didn't HAVE to know EVERYTHING. He certainly knew a
lot - enough to always know the alternate fingerings for any instrument.
In my HS career, the only section I never saw him give alternate
fingerings to to make passages easier was the flute section. And he would
tell us that we needed to know all these things. He told us to take
lessons - that music was serious and should just be considered a hobby.
He wanted us to know that what we learned here were principles that we
needed to carry with us to adulthood. And we followed his lead - we were
an excellent group, but not because he was a good performer. It was
because he taught us the importance of musical excellence.
It's unfortunate that when an HS ensemble is bad, a lot of the
blame goes to the director. Yet if you ask the director of a good HS
director, he/she'll say, "Well, the credit goes to these kids - they're
wonderful."
That's not always the case. The kids aren't necessarily wonderful
(There were a lot of LOUSY people in our ensemble). They are INSPIRED to
acheive excellence. That is JUST as important as the necessary knowledge
of music. If the director can just inspire the students to acheive on
their own, then the ability to play like Shifrin or to sing like Pavarotti
isn't vital.
But it helps.

Like I said, this is just my opinion. If you disagree, then don't
bother telling me. I'm not heading into education, so don't complain
about people like me 'corrupting the system.'

Shouryu Nohe
Professor of SCSM102, New Mexico State Univ.
http://web.nmsu.edu/~jnohe; ICQ 6771552
Coffee Drinker, Musician, Otaku, Jesus Freak, Admirer of Women
(Not necessarily in that order)
--------------------------------------------------------------
"A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd."
- Max Lucado (The Eva quotes will return later. ^_^ )

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