Klarinet Archive - Posting 001244.txt from 1999/03

From: James <jparkin9@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Teachers
Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1999 17:03:49 -0500

Edwin V. Lacy wrote:

> On Mon, 22 Mar 1999, Gary Van Cott wrote:
>
> > Play for them and insist they play for you.
>
> There is something vaguely discomfiting about this advice. I have
> never
> auditioned for a prospective student, and in fact, have never been
> asked
> to.

<snip>

> I can name dozens or hundreds of performers who would be able to win
> out over me in an audition behind a screen but who couldn't teach
> "their way out of a wet paper bag," as the saying goes.

Good point. The point is well taken.

> As a teacher, we have to have a deep understanding of what is required
> to
> play the instrument properly, but it does not follow that the best
> performers are the best teachers.

Agreed. My problem with my teacher is not that she doesn't play the
clarinet well. She plays the flute well, but not the clarinet. I don't
care if she can't play 6 notes in a row. It is that she is unfamiliar
with reeds, mouthpieces, instruments, etc. with which I am struggling
needlessly. I think it would be nice to know she loved the instrument as
much as I and was abreast of some of the current possibilities of the
instrument.

> I guess you just have to decide what you are looking for in a teacher.
>
> Ed Lacy

What I want in a teacher is someone who loves the instrument and the
tone it is capable of producing. I then want that teacher to instruct me
in the most efficient way to get from point A to point B with as little
wasted time and effort as possible.

James

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