Klarinet Archive - Posting 000289.txt from 2000/05

From: "Patricia Smith" <pattiesmith@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Tone descriptions
Date: Fri, 5 May 2000 08:35:54 -0400

Dan Leeson wrote:

"All of this would be irrelevant in any case, were it not for the fact
that impressionable students begin to become insecure by virtue of the
fact that (1) they don't know what a dark sound is, (2) they don't know
what they have to do to get it, and (3) they don't know what it is when
their teacher tells them they have it.

Instead of enjoying a sound because they like it, they are searching for
a holy grail that has different meanings to different people."

I think this also is due to the fact that these impressionable young people
are insecure with their own sound and are looking for validation from their
teacher. Teachers sometimes, for whatever reasons, do not enter the
subjective are of sound, and do not encourage students to listen to
themselves. They do not validate the student as s/he is going through the
learning process. By validation, I mean objective feedback. Sound may be a
subjective area in some ways, but it is an objective statement if I say,
that I can hear certain overtones in a particular long tone, for example.
As far as developing sound goes, I think it has a lot to do with what the
student's goals are as a player. Does the student want to go on to do
chamber work while holding down a job as a middle school band teacher? Does
the student want to become a symphony player? Is the student interested in
studies on the master's level? What does the student need to be able to do
with his/her sound in order to at least have a chance to attain these goals?
While I agree that the word "dark" has little or no meaning, and it has been
overused as a metaphor for years, what does have to happen for students is
that teachers and students of clarinet have to share a descriptive
vocabulary, through use of which the teacher can help the student discover
his/her unique niche with the clarinet. How this is to be done will vary
among different teachers and students. It may even vary with the same
teacher, as s/he teaches different students. Part of the teacher's job with
more advanced students is to help the student become self critical. (But not
in an abusive sense, of course)

Patty Smith
...who enjoys nuance in all its forms

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