Klarinet Archive - Posting 000393.txt from 2001/08

From: The Guy on the Couch <jnohe@-----.Edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] I'm new with questions
Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2001 18:31:07 -0400

On 26 Aug 2001, Colleen Janssen wrote:

> It's really hard to explain my question. I'm not a musician, but my 14
> year-old daughter plays clarinet and wants to study classical
> performance. She has no interest in teaching, and her ability to earn a
> living is not our primary concern. She thinks that Postal Carrier would
> be a good day job, leaving her evenings free for music.

Kudos to you for not trying to squelch her dreams based on occupational
concerns. My parents did so for a good two years before realizing that
just because I didn't have an Ed degree didn't mean I wouldn't have
options after graduation.

> I realize the value of private music instruction and practice, but I'm
> not sure what the value of college is. Looking at college web-sites, it
> looks like the first two years are spent on academics and they only
> accept advanced clarinet students. Do they ever teach clarinet?

Oh yes - and plenty of it. In truth, it all depends on WHAT university
you send her to. I can only speak from my experiences here at New Mexico
State University, from where I just recently graduated from, and am now
continuing as a graduate assistant.

Our program doesn't deny anyone - we have a high quality faculty who are
always looking out for the best interests of our students, and generally
speaking, our department is not so massive that we audition students and
turn them away. However, at larger, more recognized universities,
students will have to audtion into the department.

If a student enters our department and is a poor player/student, we give
them a chance - they have essentially two semesters to show significant
improvement and potential for further improvement. Obviously, this
doesn't happen without hard work...even just a mere two hours a day can
really change a player. I started terribly (as a performance major from
beginning to end), having played only bass clarinet in high school, with a
not so perfect embouchure. In one semester, my embouchure was reset
properly, and in the second semester I developed articulation and began
working towards technique. It doesn't take much time to revolutionize
one's playing.

Now, some other schools (and portions of ours, depending on the size of
the studios) will not turn you down, but will still audtion students, and
then based on their abilities (or if they are a music minor as opposed to
being a major), set them to be trained with a grad assistant for a year or
two first to get them on track. This doesn't diminish the quality of the
education - it simply means that one Doctor of clarinet studies cannot
possibly handle forty clarinetists every week and still teach his/her
Orchestration class.

Each school has their own way of doing things, and if the school is worth
its salt, then the way they've chosen to handle their students is the most
effective way they can do so with the staff that they have.

Also - dispose of the notion of four-year college. If you think your
daughter's just going to get two years of general ed studies and only two
years of music, then your thinking is flawed...can school be done in four
years? Sure, as long as the student doesn't have a job (most students
do), doesn't play in but one ensemble every semester (oh, what an
enriching college experience that will be), doesn't engage in ANY social
activity whatsoever (yet further enrichment), and attends classes in the
summers as well (yay for burnout). I myself had approximately four
semesters worth of general ed requirements to fufill...but smart advisors
will have students spread those out over their years at school. I took
ONE general ed in six semesters, and did the rest during my first two
summers. One three credit class out of eighteen credits each semester
leaves FIFTEEN credits of space for music classes and ensembles.

I finished in five years with two summers, my degree in clarinet, with an
unofficial minor in jazz saxophone (meaning, I also used up credits on
applied saxophone and jazz ensembles). Most music majors (performance or
ed or otherwise) at NMSU typically get out in 4.5 to 6 years, depending on
what they did with their summers, and if they blew off their piano
proficiency studies (those are the people who stay for six years).

> I'd like to put her on a path to become a musician, but honestly...
> this makes no sense to me. I would be charged the highest college
> tuition rates and wouldn't qualify for any financial assistance.

All students can get loans, I think - my mother has a rather large nest
egg she built up so that she could go home to Thailand and take all of us
with her...because of that I've never qualified for any sort of grant.
But I got loans to cover what my academic scholarships left unpaid. Yes,
loans have to be paid back...but I'll take debt and a good education over
working at Burger King full time anyday. There's always grad school (my
choice), going to a large city and teaching privately (one of my fellow
assistants used to charge $30 an hour in Arizona for lessons...WITHOUT a
degree, and made his living just teaching and gigging), or finding a
really good gig. Or use the degree to get a day job until you find a gig.

> I could buy her an awful lot of private lessons for less than the cost
> of college, and I'm wondering if that would be better.

You're not just paying for private lessons when you're sending her to
college. You're paying for her to train to play in various wind
ensembles, symphonies, chamber ensembles, opera pits, and jazz ensembles.
Show me a private instructor who can offer those opportunities! Or how
about one who will train her intensively in form, theory, orchestration,
music history, music development, music pedagogy, and performance
practice? Or someone who will expose her to solo literature of other
instruments?

There's much much much more to collegiate training than simply becoming a
better player...as much as I complain on this list about the deficiencies
in my own playing, I wouldn't trade any of the classes I took for more
practice time. I feel so much more enriched and confident having studied
all the topics I've listed. CAN a private instructor teach everything I
stated above? YES! Can they do it one or two hour-hour long lessons a
week? Absolutely not.

> I can't figure out what playing in marching band has to do with any of
> this (that is my impression of high school) and it's giving me a
> headache.

Ah, the great marching band debate...I'll make it quick and clean. Is
marching band REALLY necessary for performance majors? No. It is for Ed
majors, but not really for perf majors.

But it's part of the collegiate experience - it's just as much a
development of the student's social dimensions, as it is (or should be) a
development of the student's musical and educational dimensions. I was
required to do two semesters (as opposed to the Ed majors' requirement of
three), and I did it for three because it was FUN! I met so many people,
got a chance to dig into playing saxophone (I used it as a tool to teach
myself saxophone before I started taking lessons), got to travel, and
because we weren't in preparation for a big contest that we just had to
WIN WIN WIN...I was never stressed over marching band. In fact, marching
band in college was my stress RELIEVER...I got to hang out with friends
while putting on a good show, without worrying about a trophy.

> Can somebody explain how this is supposed to work?

I hope I've clarified any of your concerns, and changed your ideas about
collegiate music programs...they are NOT a waste of time or effort. I'm
living proof.

If you have any more questions, I'll be more than happy to answer them
(mostly as they pertain to the program at NMSU, but that's to be
expected). If you have an active interest in the music depart at NMSU,
well, I'll be glad to help you there, too. Despite our size, we have
students from all over - California, South Carolina, Florida, Chicago,
South Korea, Mexico (well, we ARE on the border...and the first person to
imply that New Mexico is just another part of Mexico gets a stern look and
public embarrasment), and Columbia.

Collegiate music is a completely different ball game than private lessons.
Are private lessons worth what you pay? You bet. Is college? You bet.

J. Shouryu Nohe
http://web.nmsu.edu/~jnohe
Professor of SarCaSM102, New Mexico State Univ.
"I think we have a ghost in our house." - Kaycee Nicole
"I should probably be playing Buffet." - Steve Moore

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