Klarinet Archive - Posting 000194.txt from 2001/11

From: Roger Shilcock <roger.shilcock@-----.uk>
Subj: Re: [kl] Re: clarinetist's block
Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2001 11:04:40 -0500

Dear Virginia,
Oxfordshire Education Authority certainly has a "music programme" of some
kind - I'm not involved in it as a teacher*, but I could find out more
about it. In fact, they have now tentatively started wind ensemble sessions
- clarinets, saxophones & flutes - for adults.
Roger S.
* because I don't teach....and it's just as well.

In message <B80C5CCC.E5B%assembly1@-----.org writes:
> on 4/11/01 9:15 pm, Tony@-----.uk (Tony Pay) wrote:
>
> > What I remember of my early days of playing the clarinet was the joy of
> > reading through wind quintets with friends on Sunday afternoons; of
> > bashing through the cl/pf repertoire after school with my schoolpal (we
> > got as far as the Ireland Sonata eventually); and playing in local
> > orchestras, Gilbert and Sullivan, and so on....
> >
> > In the end, I practised only in order to be able to *play* better. And
> > that wasn't demanded by anything other than that the music just didn't
> > sound good enough, to me and other people, if I didn't.
> >
> > I still don't practise very much unless I have to play something. You
> > might be the same.
>
> But Tony, I bet you also passed your Boards to grade 8 or so, thus ensuring
> that you had worked out proper fingerings and appropriate solo literature
> and sight reading in a systematic fashion early on when muscles are easily
> trained, and thus ensuring that you technique would only have to be sped up
> and refined at university. I'd imagine that David and other American
> teachers find such rigorous programmes necessary due to the chaotic American
> musical education (often lack thereof) before university. There's a steep
> learning curve for talented students whose only education consisted of
> marching and concert band music.*
>
> Having said this, I can't imagine such a routine would give a student a
> renewed love for the instrument, nor is it always the way to progress
> technically. I agree with your suggestion for Jess to "do it" - it's just
> that I can understand why some people don't.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Virginia
>
>
> *Yes, there are good band directors out there who encourage students to take
> lessons and require scale and arpeggio studies as part of progress in band.
> Most of the band and orchestra directors on this list are here because they
> maintain an interest in music education, but there is no system to ensure
> such responsibility at all schools. Since the British music programmes were
> taken from the education authorities some years ago, more and more students
> here will fall through the cracks as well.
> --
> Virginia Anderson
> Leicester, UK
> <vanderson@-----.uk>
> Experimental Music Catalogue: <http://www.experimentalmusic.co.uk>
> ...experimental music since 1969....
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>

--
It is certain that the easy and obvious philosophy will always,
with the generality of mankind, have the preference over the accurate
and abstruse...
--- D. Hume ("An enquiry concerning human understanding," I)

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