Klarinet Archive - Posting 000529.txt from 1999/11

From: Audrey Travis <vsofan@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Re: beginners' intonation/voicing
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1999 20:30:35 -0500

Sorry about posting the same 2 messages, everyone. I thought the original (this
one) didn't go through because it didn't turn up on my email. It turns out my
email server was busy having problems today.

Audrey

Audrey Travis wrote:

> 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
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Unsubscribe from Klarinet, e-mail: klarinet-unsubscribe@-----.org
> > Subscribe to the Digest: klarinet-digest-subscribe@-----.org
> > Additional commands: klarinet-help@-----.org
> > Other problems: klarinet-owner@-----.org
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Unsubscribe from Klarinet, e-mail: klarinet-unsubscribe@-----.org
> Subscribe to the Digest: klarinet-digest-subscribe@-----.org
> Additional commands: klarinet-help@-----.org
> Other problems: klarinet-owner@-----.org

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe from Klarinet, e-mail: klarinet-unsubscribe@-----.org
Subscribe to the Digest: klarinet-digest-subscribe@-----.org
Additional commands: klarinet-help@-----.org
Other problems: klarinet-owner@-----.org

   
     Copyright © Woodwind.Org, Inc. All Rights Reserved    Privacy Policy    Contact charette@woodwind.org