Klarinet Archive - Posting 000958.txt from 2003/06

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausmann1@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Left, Right or mixed handed?
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2003 11:26:48 -0400

At 08:41 PM 6/25/2003 -0600, Christy Erickson wrote:
>Oh, is that so Bill? I'll have to disagree that it would be a major
>difference to follow a left-handed conductor. Now you have really opened a
>can of worms. Sometimes I'd swear members of the list start these debates
>deliberately to spark a lively debate but I'll bite anyway. Expecting a
>strongly left-hand dominant person to "conform" to the right-handed
>conducting style is a bit like asking a kid with ADHD to simply pay
>attention, or a kid with dyslexia to read what everyone else is reading, or
>to tell a hearing impaired person they simply need to listen better in order
>to hear. Intelligent, empathetic and understanding people don't make these
>unreasonable types of demands of people with differences or handicaps. They
>do make accomodations, and if I may remind you, this is required by the law
>in this country. This is the reason for handicapped accessibility to public
>and many private buildings, for example. Using your reasoning, one might
>expect that those in wheelchairs simply stand up and walk up a flight of
>stairs and into a building since that's what the majority do. The
>insistence that a left-handed person learn to conduct a beat pattern with
>their right-hand is an unreasonable demand for a teacher to make. I never
>thought about this before but my guess is that this would be a demand that
>could feasibly be challenged in court under IDEA if a conducting teacher
>were to insist that a student conduct the beat pattern with the right-hand
>and it could certainly be challenged if the teacher were to give the student
>a lower grade due to the inability to meet this "requirement."
> People with differences may be in the minority but who says we need to
>conform to the standards of the majority to get along? I don't believe that
>to be true at all. If I am deaf do I need to start hearing to get along?
>Of course we need to conform to laws in order to "get along" but breaking
>the law is a far cry from conducting in an unconventional way. I would
>suggest that you try using your left hand for all your daily tasks for the
>next month and perhaps you will have a much more empathetic view of all
>this. We'll give you one of those little desks used in most college
>classrooms, only it will definitely have the writing surface on the right
>side for at least several hours while you write your notes. You'll probably
>give up and decide to put the notebook on your lap. It will fall out of
>your lap at least 5 times during that time and the pain in your back will be
>excruciating. The experience can be compared to forcing a person to wear a
>set of clothing and shoes that is two sizes too small for them. Fortunately
>we don't do this and clothing is made to accomodate a person's size.
> I suppose the question in the next debate will be whether
>left-handedness is a handicap or a behavior of choice. It reminds me of the
>debate about whether a person's sexual preference is learned or acquired by
>choice. Some left-handed people may be offended at the suggestion that
>left-handedness is a handicap, but unfortunately, it is a disadvantage and a
>handicap when they must work overtime to accomodate the right-handed
>world-at least those who insist they couldn't possibly be flexible enough to
>make some accomadations for the differences of others. This give and take
>is the basis of all good relationships and it is this reciprocity and the
>ability to put oneself in another's shoes that helps us all get along.
>Having said all of this, I do conduct a beat pattern with my right hand, not
>due to having been taught that way, but due to that being my natural
>preference with which I am most comfortable. However, I can definitely
>understand how difficult this may be for some and I don't think it would be
>difficult at all to follow a left-handed conductor. The up and down beats
>are, after all, in the same place anyway and that is what I see most clearly
>out of the corner of my eye while playing. Christy
> >
> > I said it would be a MAJOR difference, but not an impossible one. The
> > majority group must be sensitive to and accommodate the differences of the
> > minority, but the minority must accept the fact that they ARE the minority
> > and conform as much as possible to the majority's standards and practices
> > if they expect to get along. This is true of handedness, religion, race,
> > ethnicity, and many other differences between people.

Clearly, you missed my point entirely. Look at what I said above. "The
majority group must be sensitive to and ACCOMODATE the differences of the
minority." That means provide left-handed desks, handicapped access, make
clothing in large/small sizes, and at least TRY to read the reversed beat,
etc. But why should the majority need to go more than half-way in this
regard? I say the other side must give some, too. It sometimes seems as
if some people insist that ALL desks be left-handed, ALL parking and
seating be handicapped-accessible, etc. That sort of attitude just creates
more division between people, when working together is what we need.

Bill Hausmann

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is TOO LOUD!

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