Klarinet Archive - Posting 000315.txt from 2004/04
From: Tony Pay <tony.p@-----.org>
Subj: RE: [kl] RE: Competitions and Juries
Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 17:31:15 -0400
In message <74DAD2F23F03F7438D9BE3436C6846F78FC5BE@-----.us>
"Buckman, Nancy" <nebuckman@-----.edu> wrote:
> Tony P.,
>
> My problem with your comment deals with that word "perception", which to me
> indicates an opinion about something. When dealing with kids, if you want
> them to change something they need to "see what that change is and what
> factual evidence you have for them to base their change on.
If we're talking about young kids -- though really, my post was about people
going in for higher level competitions -- an example could be something like,
that sometimes a student doesn't play legato properly. They think that
'playing legato' means that they have to 'join the notes together'. So they
do a sort of little joiny blip every time they change notes; and that little
blip is sometimes very difficult for them to hear in their own playing, and
even more difficult to eradicate, even when you have a whole lesson -- or a
series of lessons -- to address the problem.
The most important step seems to be to get them to the point where they have
a clear perception themselves of the difference between the joined up blobs
and the true legato -- which of course comes from them having an experience
of the whole legato phrase as one thing before they start.
Then they're like, oh, I see! Why didn't I get that before? (And I'm like,
well, it just goes to show:-)
> For instance, I had a student who was playing a piece (I don't remember
> exactly which piece), and did a fine job. When she got a poor rating, I
> couldn't understand why. Two of her three adjudicators marked her down for
> using a fingering that wasn't on a fingering chart. She played
> beautifully. In fact, she played the same piece at her entrance audition
> to one of the nation's better conservatories and got very good comments
> about her technique and her musicianship. What good was the remark about
> the fingering (she used 1 on 1 for Eb instead of the side trill key)? It
> was a subjective comment that did nothing to improve her confidence or
> execution.
I think that that's a horrific story.
> Anything below college level should not be judged on perception.
I think the difficulty was only that you want to use the word 'perception' in
a different way from the way I was using it.
But what you write is perfectly valid.
Tony
--
_________ Tony Pay
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