Klarinet Archive - Posting 000735.txt from 2003/10

From: "Ken Wolman" <kwolman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Starting a youngster
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 08:52:28 -0500

Karl Krelove wrote:

>Of course, nobody in this case was talking about mocking or criticizing any
>child. I think that's something we all would agree is counterproductive if
>the goal is to have the child succeed with and love music. The only goal
>this kind of behavior serves is to bolster up the weak self-image of the
>mocker by making him/her feel superior.
>
>
I suggest the Guardian article oversimplifies the extent to which a kid
can be negatively affected by mockery, not just in terms of playing but
also enjoying music.

My mother, who had more than her share of flaws, was nevertheless
solicitous of my desire to play and to listen to stuff that ended up
making me the loneliest kid in town (this was the Fifties and I hated
rock 'n' roll).

My father, on the other hand, when he rented that metal clarinet for me
when I was in the 5th grade, said emphatically "Practice, but just don't
do it around me, I don't want to hear it."

So I had one parent on my side, anyway.

What I suspect also is required in a kid who is seized by the need to
play or sing is the ability to overcome parental disapproval by
attitudes of downright defiance and acts of disobedience. Now, that may
not go down well among some parents here (I are one), but that in my
totally unhumble opinion is what it may require. The history of
performance is probably filled with biographia of kids who went after a
dream even if their parents raged, threatened, and cut them off.

Ken

--
Kenneth Wolman
Proposal Development Department
Room SW334
Sarnoff Corporation
609-734-2538

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