Klarinet Archive - Posting 000174.txt from 1998/08

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Clarinet/Young People
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 1998 10:18:01 -0400

On Wed, 5 Aug 1998, Janet McNaught wrote:

> Roger
> Please clarify your argument here.
>
> >> I believe that people do not enjoy classical music because they have not
> been educated or trained to appreciate what it is - a very complex musical
> form. Rap is not complex, nor is it lasting. >>
>
> Are you saying that you have to be educated in music to appreciate the
> classical form? This leads to some really elitist conclusions, and some
> really bad music being passed off as good under the guise of "you just don't
> understand it - you are not well enough educated". This happens in my
> business (fine art) all the time - some questionable art being accepted by
> the museum elite, and not "understood" by the general public.

Nope.......not saying that at all. Name 10 people who have had no musical
training at all, no musical education (short of bad elementry music
classes for which all they do is sing from the top 10 lists) who can
appreciate (listen to, focus, and retain......) music such as Hindemith,
Stravinsky, Mahler, etc........

Elitist conclusions? Nah..........just realistic. The ears must be
trained and practiced in order to find beauty and form in music for which
it seems there is none. The phrase, "your ears need more growing" is
common in music educaton. How many times have students approached me to
ask if we could play a particular piece in band - and I tell them to go
back and listen to their high school recording of it and come back to ask
again.......the majority of the time, the few intervening years of musical
training (and you know Janet........I have never defined that!) have
allowed them to hear that the piece they liked so much before sounds
a lot less appoealing than it did when they were in high school.

What is "musically trained"? Does one have to go to school to be
"musically educated?" Not in my book.....a car mechanic doesn't need to
go to school to be able to fix a car, and a person doesn't have to have a
degree to be able to lay bricks or float concrete. Although the "formal
training" you mention later will speed the process up. What does it take?
It takes interest, time, enthusiasm, and curiosity. A person can become
"musically educated" by going to the library and picking out a recording
of Vivaldi, Corelli, Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Stravinsky, whatever....and
listening to it straight through. I'm talking about listening to
it....not reading while it is on in the background, or doing dishes with
it on......listening to it. This is called a "self-education" Janet, and
it is not elitist. As soon as you follow someone else's recipe for making
a cake, and then begin to add to it, you are self-educating yourself.

> If you mean exposure to classical music, not formal education or training,
> then I'm in complete agreement.

Exposure is not education/training. I never used the word formal in my
posting.

> >I said
> >that people don't appreciate it because they don't understand it....and
> >they don't understand it because they have not been educated in it.
>
> Would you change that to "exposed to it", not "educated in it".

No.....I would not. Most of the people who don't like it have been
exposed to it at one point or another. The problem is that, like all
things, they have not been encouraged or motivated to actually listen to
it. My oldest son does not listen to anything but rock, jazz, and "fun
stuff" (he is nine).........he also can't sing in tune (not because of the
above...he just can't sing in tune!!)......my youngest son (seven) has
been focused on listening to music since he was old enough to turn on the
child tape player.........we gave him some marches on a tape once, and I
used to see him turn it on and just stare at the tape player and listen.
He knows the music now......even composers names......he is curious. What
do I do about my oldest son? Got him piano lessons! He defines
"classical" music as "hard to hear" and rock n roll as "easy to hear".
Pretty simple coming from a child........his lack of appreciation comes
from lack of interest or curiosity in something he finds more difficult to
do than he has motivation. Is this a crime? No......but he will be far
less appreciative of "classical music" then his brother.....and that is
the issue. It is neither right nor wrong....it's just the way it is
(re-read my first posting).

> >There could be slack-jawed yokels who love
> >> classical and hate popular music and there could be high class CEOs who
> >> have an affinity for popular, detesting classical.
> >
> >They are the exception to the rule (the "slack-jawed yokels" that is).
> >Name ten!
>
> Aside from the obvious discomfort with the characterization of "slack jawed
> yokel",

Not my words.......notice the quotes.......I was being fecitous. I don't
think of anyone as "slack jawed".

and assuming that you are referring to people who do not have
> advanced education,

your assumption Janet.........point out anywhere that I said "advanced
education". You assume things I do not say or imply based on your own
biases.

> I can name a lot more than ten! In our community, we
> have an extremely successful opera company - and it is no coincidence that
> we also have a significant Italian population, immigrant, first and second
> generation. Many of the immigrants and first generation Italians are not
> well educated - ie. no high school graduation. Opera is the music they are
> familiar with, what they listen to at home, what they grew up with. This is
> NOT education, this is exposure.

Semantics.....I call it education. A person can be "exposed" all their
life to a garage where their father fixes automobiles and not even know
how to change a tire. Then there is the person who is encouraged to learn
- even informally - and that person becomes educated in car repair.
"Exposed" is not the same thing as "educated". Check out the dictionary
and see if they are listed together.

I don't have an elitist idea about what "education" is......but it seems
that perhaps you do?

Roger Garrett
IWU

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