Klarinet Archive - Posting 000475.txt from 2002/12
From: Karl Krelove <karlkrelove@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] problem
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2002 20:59:13 -0500
You probably realized even as you wrote the message below that you and this
teacher are not a good match. I had one of those "push you by insulting you"
teachers for one year - he later became a well recognized player in a major
symphony, but he almost made me hang up my clarinet and do something else.
Whether or not there's any foundation in his criticisms, you and he don't
have time to build a relationship in which you can grow between now and the
audition, and it sounds as if you have no plan to stay with him anyway -
you're going back to your other teacher. You certainly don't need his
permission to stop studying with him, and it sounds as if you have other
input from people you know and who maybe understand the level of competition
better than this man. So, if what he is saying is not helping, for whatever
reason, and your goal was to get constructive help for the competition, just
don't set up any more lessons with him and rely on the people you trust to
guide you as much as they can through the audition.
That said - as frustrating as it can be to have a teacher stop you to
comment on every measure, that's not necessarily in itself an indicator that
you aren't a good player. Most of us are more picky with a student we think
is actually capable of fixing the problems we bring up than we are with a
student who isn't at a level where the comments will mean anything.
Depending on how he words his comments, his frequent interruptions can
indicate how much he thinks you're capable of. The real crux of the problem,
**if you're hoping to establish a long-term relationship with a teacher**
(which it seems you aren't), is whether you can hear *what* he's saying to
you through whatever noise he generates by *how* he says it. If you can't
hear valuable or useful content through the verbiage, then it doesn't matter
much whether he's right or wrong. Your goal is to become a better player. If
he can't help you toward that goal, whether the problem is lack of knowledge
or inability to communicate with you, then your goal will not be met.
I'm curious - what DOES he play if he isn't a clarinetist, and how did you
come to study with him in the first place?
Karl Krelove
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rebecca Brennan [mailto:rjbrennan1221@-----.com]
> Sent: Thursday, December 19, 2002 7:44 PM
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: [kl] problem
>
>
>
> Lately I have been getting vI need to rant and get a bit of advise.
>
> I have my regular private teacher that I went to and plan to go back to
> after the new year, but right now I am seeing another teacher
> because I will
> not see my teacher until after my all-state audition because she only
> teaches the one day of the week that both the winter concert, snow,
> Christmas, New year, and everything else has seemed to fall on this month.
>
> On my all-state pieces I have has 5 professional opinons on it.
> My private
> teacher, my band director, an army band commander, and the
> clarinet teacher
> from Marshall University who all say I do an excellent job at it.
> Then there
> is that guy I have been going to. Every measure I play he stops and says
> something. To three of the people I just listed I cross the break very
> smoothly on the Rose study, but to this guy he says it sounds like I am
> chopping it to death. It could be that every time I have a lesson
> with this
> guy that I have a nervous breakdown and cry my eyes out and can't
> play for a
> day or so. I get very nervous around him and everything just goes
> blank and
> it is like I forget everything I know because he was so harsh on
> me at the
> first lesson. He also puts down my private teacher who plays with
> the West
> Virginia Symphony and whom is a very good teacher. Then today I
> learn that
> he doesn't even play clarinet at all.
>
> ery winded after a few minutes of practice and I can't do it
> anymore. I sit
> there and sulk because I CAN NOT practice. I don't know exactly what is
> wrong, but I constantly think of the comments I get from him. When I told
> him how I felt and that I didn't want to take lessons with him anymore he
> called me a baby.
>
> Does it sound like I am acting like a baby? I think in a way I am, but I
> really can't help it because I am so tore up over it. I have two
> weeks until
> my audition and the last day of school is tomorrow, so this means that I
> will be on my own. Is this a wise of me? I really do think that I should
> stop, but what if I am just a baby? I did make it on my own with
> no private
> instruction at all last year, would that make it safe this year?
>
> I don't know what to do! I try to talk to my band direcot about
> it but all
> he says is that it is because I am his best student and he tries
> to push me
> by insulting me.
>
> -Rebecca
>
>
>
>
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