Klarinet Archive - Posting 000506.txt from 1999/11

From: Audrey Travis <vsofan@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] trying to send message again
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1999 14:49:12 -0500

Subject:
Re: [kl] Re: beginners' intonation/voicing
Date:
Sat, 13 Nov 1999 10:44:29 -0800
From:
Audrey Travis <vsofan@-----.com>
Organization:
Pacific Spirit Youth Band
To:
klarinet@-----.org
References:
1

Lelia

Teaching band (all instruments) at 6 elementary schools, I must do a lot
of very
fast recruiting - I need to interest kids in band and then somehow test
them out
on instruments to TRY to determine which ones might best suit them.
Lots of
teachers just let kids choose whichever instrument they want and don't
do any
screening. I feel I must. I'm hoping this will mean fewer kids to drop
out
because they can't even make a sound on the insrtument for two months.
By the
way, I'm not entirely convinced this works for all, because I do get
some
dropouts, and occasionally I find that the wrong choice has been made,
but this
is partly because the people helping me test kids don't have the same
criterion
I do (that's a different problem). Unfortunately, my classes must be
homogeneous and there is no time allottment for sectionals, let alone
private
instruction. For my brass students, because any fingering or slide
position
combination can produce so many different pitches, I have them sing a
song after
me, like Mary Had a Little Lamb. If they can sing it back to me, pitch
accurate, I let them play brass. I have staff from a local company to
whom I
direct a lot of business come out and help me. It's all done in a gym
with kids
lining up to try out:
a) flute
b) clarinet/sax
c) trumpet/french horn

I ask whoever is doing the brass to make sure the child can get at least
two
harmonics on the brass instruments, and later, I ask these kids to sing
"Mary".
It seems to me that if a child can sing in tune, they have learned pitch

discrimination and will be able to distinguish them on a brass
instrument. The
ability to sing in tune presupposes pitch discrimination. Lots of
people learn
to sing accurately without learning Orff system, a learned set of
skills,
first. So I don't really agree that having kids sing to test for pitch
discrimination doesn't really test what it sets out to test.

Cheers

Audrey

LeliaLoban@-----.com wrote:

> Regarding ear training, Georgette C. wrote,
> >I have the students start by figuring out simple songs for
themselves. If
> they can't do this easily then I will turn around so they can't see my

> fingers. I then play a note and see if they can match it. This will
really
> give you a great idea if the student has potential or if they are tone
deaf.
> But it can be learned with practice.>
>
> In the earliest stages, I think teachers sometimes intend to test for
hearing
> ability and pitch discrimination, when the test actually measures
learned
> skills or singing ability. IMHO, to avoid this confusion, it's a good
idea
> to ask a complete beginner to match notes on a piano and not rely too
much on
> what happens when the child tries to match notes by singing them.
It's also
> useful to ask kids to listen to pairs of notes and identify which one
sounds
> higher and which one sounds lower.
>
> I suspect it's difficult to permanently thwart a child who loves music
and
> seriously wants to learn it, but professional music teachers who gave
pitch
> tests to my husband and me when we were pre-schoolers sure tried to
> discourage us. They falsely labelled both of us as stone-eared,
hopeless
> cases. I had whooping cough at age four that damaged my vocal cords.
Nobody
> ever figured out what happened with the teacher who rejected Kevin as
a
> violin student. He has excellent pitch and a fine singing voice,
too. These
> teachers advised our parents that music lessons would waste time and
money.
> Fortunately, our parents trusted their own judgment and found us
different
> teachers.
>
> Lelia
>
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