Klarinet Archive - Posting 000308.txt from 2000/04

From: Neil Leupold <leupold_1@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Student motivation/ Lame Excuses
Date: Sat, 8 Apr 2000 01:28:27 -0400

--- SoulClarinetAdam@-----.com wrote:

> The problem is school, the expectations of school makes it harder
> for a person to practice.

I remember a friend in high school, a flautist of such remarkable
ability that she had no reason to participate in our music program.
She was so busy practicing, winning contests, and playing principal
with the San Francisco Youth Orchestra, she had barely enough time
each day to address her academic obligations (she was a straight-A
student, nonetheless).

For the past 7 years or so, this person has been Principal Flute of
the Atlanta Symphony, hired during her Sophomore year at Curtis.
During the couple of years that I knew her, it became apparent what
kind of sacrifices Christina had made in her life throughout element-
ary, junior high, and high school, and what kind of support she had
received from her parents in pursuing that musical ambition. Parents
have a lot to do with the relative success of musically inclined stu-
dents, but first the kid has to be musically inclined. Christina's
little brother also went to Curtis (on clarinet), and her younger
sister is now a violinist in the Phoenix Symphony. All of these
siblings were individually impassioned about their music, and the
parents financed and chaufferred and supported each of them, without
limits, throughout their early years.

This blend of circumstances, parental support, and personal passion is
rare for adolescent musicians, much less for kids even younger. Much of
the griping that is being done here on Klarinet, about missed lessons,
revolves around the issues of wasted time and lost money. As teachers,
we would like so much for our school-age students to be as devoted to
music and the clarinet as we are, but there are very few Christinas in
the world, who have the requisite personal passion, in combination with
support from their parents. And even those kids who *do* have the desire
do not always have the emotional stability (given that time of their lives)
to be consistent and reliable with their time, much less with ours as their
teachers.

It is total folly to blame the kids or their parents for what some of
you might choose to perceive as disrespect for your time, or exploitation
of your dedication. Why does it take people so long to figure out that
"it takes two to tango"? If you're having a problem with a student or
that student's parents when it comes to attendance or payment, step back
and recognize that you are part of that problem. How? No matter what the
behavior is of the other party, it is a two-way street and you are fully
capable of changing your own behavior to effect a chance in theirs. As
the saying goes, "When it becomes more difficult to suffer than to change,
you will change."

When you find yourself dealing with irresponsible or undedicated students
(and/or flaky parents), use a different approach in your relationship with
those parties. Treat them like a bad credit risk and impose stiffer con-
ditions for doing business. As I suggested in a previous post, collect
lesson payments several lessons in advance, making it clear and known to
the student and his/her parents that if the student misses a lesson, or
if insufficient notice of cancellation is given, the time you wasted will
be paid for by the money you already received. It's a very simple change
that can be made, and those parents who fail to recognize the fairness of
such an arrangement (when a negative pattern has set in) are not the ones
with whom you want to continue dealing anyway. If you continue to do bus-
iness with them, look in the mirror for the source of your continued frus-
tration thereafter.

For those students who are dedicated, and whose parents consistently pay
in a timely manner, you can retain the more open and informal arrangement.

--- SoulClarinetAdam@-----.com also wrote:

> the only way i can get into a good music college is if i have good grades.

This is not true, as indignant as some of the purists might become at the
notion. If a musically gifted student shows up at an audition to one of
the better performance programs in the country, (s)he can be practically
failing out of their current school and still receive an invitation to at-
tend the conservatory. 'Happens all the time. If one or more of the pro-
fessors on the audition panel takes a liking to that student, (s)he will
bend over backwards to sponsor that applicant in his/her efforts to enter
the school. There will be remedial academic programs, relaxing of stand-
ards, waiving of requirements, and any number of other devices and political
maneuverings to accommodate the student's academic imbalance in order to get
them into the school. Many people disagree with this way of handling things,
and some of the better programs have become more strict over time about en-
forcing minimum academic standards, regardless of how gifted a given appli-
cant might be. But the practice of fudging the standards continues, and in
some cases it doesn't do as much damage in the long run as one might fear.

-- Neil

Do You Yahoo!?
Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger.
http://im.yahoo.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------
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