Klarinet Archive - Posting 000400.txt from 2000/06

From: "Tony Wakefield" <tony-wakefield@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Students in general, was Re: [kl] New Student
Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2000 06:15:15 -0400

Hello Jay,
Not a <ramble> I say. I wish I could be 13 years old again, starting with
you. What I would like is for you to allow me to print out your <ramble>. I
can then leave copies lying around quite innocently on the music stands. I
do promise to credit <you> with composing the ramble tho`.

Incidentally, would it be nice if we could all state where we all live? Not
necessarily age, or proficiency, but some little personal info we could all
relate to. Just a thought - or does that begin to assimilate the <chat>
lines too much? I live in Ashford in Surrey, quite close to Heathrow
Airport. Half an hour into Central London. I compose, and I also play a
little restaurant piano, but to my life long frustration, I have never
picked up a <good> orchestral position on clarinet. I`m taking my wife to
the Royal Opera House this Thursday to see the Kirov Ballet do The Sleeping
Beauty, (birthday treat). It will probably be the R.O.H. Orchestra tho`.
Nothing wrong with that tho` I say. It took me 20 minutes to get through to
the booking office. (it`s that William Wright surfing for tips again) I
heard pretty much most of the music over the phone waiting, so I said to the
ticket office "There`s no need for me to come now, I`ve heard it!"
Tell me if all this bores you - please!!!!!!!!!
Nice to meet you Jay,
Tony W.

----- Original Message -----
From: webler1 <webler1@-----.com>
Subject: Re: [kl] Students in general, was Re: [kl] New Student

> Hello Joshua,
>
> First of all I commend your dedication to the instrument and the hard
work.
> Keep it up, but don't hold your breath for 20 measures if need to phrase
> with the rest of the band. (slight pun).
>
> Although, I sympathize with your opinion concerning students who don't
> necessarily want to be professional players I must say that I find myself
> disagreeing with your over all assessment. If you want to play an
> instrument in your own home, on your own time to help you to get your mind
> off of your problems then that is fine, and I heartily recommend it.
> However, as soon as you sit in a group you have a responsibility to help
> that group sound as good as possible. Music is one of those areas where
> people think that they can just do it for themselves while forgetting that
> others are depending on their ability. Imagine for a moment, a high
school
> football player who told his coach that he was just in it for the fun, and
> didn't really want to take it too seriously. Would this do the team any
> good. More importantly, what does this say about the individual who is
> saying this. One of the first things we must learn in life is to stop
> thinking about ourselves all of the time and realize that what we do
affects
> others. (That is not a pleasant thought to those of us who have grown up
in
> the me generation).
>
> When I have a student who doesn't care about how they play their
instrument
> I also become concerned. Not because I want them to be a professional
> Clarinetist, but because they need to learn to get out of themselves. We
> must all learn to continue on even when we are faced with stress and
> difficult times.
>
> We must also learn to follow directions. You will be faced with this for
> the rest of your life. One of the things that frustrates me is when a 13
or
> 14 year student tells me that, "I don't want to learn this new fingering,
> because it's confusing". That tells me that the student would rather
spend
> their life doing something the wrong way because they don't want to spend
> the time learning a way which will make things easier in the long term.
It
> also tells me that they don't understand what it means to be a student.
If
> a student is not teachable in the lesson room, more than likely they are
not
> teachable in other areas of school and life. One of the things that a
Music
> teacher can do for a young student is to help them learn the value of
> learning.
>
> About a month ago I wrote about a student who just flatly refused to do
some
> of the things that I taught. It even came to a point that I had to tell
her
> that I would not longer be her teacher if she continued to be stubborn.
> Last week she auditioned for a special band in middle school. She didn't
> make it, but she did tell that she
> received compliments on her sound, intonation, and sight reading. (She
> became extremely nervous and messed up her scales). I asked her why she
> received the comments. She said, "because I started to use the breathing
> that you suggested, and I got the reed that you recommended. She began to
> see the benefit of listening to her teacher. She may never learn to be a
> great Clarinetist, but if she learns to trust a teacher and puts away some
> of this childish rebellion that most youngsters have, she will be much
> better prepared for the struggles of life.
>
> My point is this, a good teacher is not just interested in cranking out
> professional musicians. We want these students to learn how to live.
>
> How many of you adults remember the teacher that just let you go. For
> myself, I remember the teachers that cared enough to tell me the truth.
>
> Sorry for rambling.
>
> Jay Webler

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