Klarinet Archive - Posting 000291.txt from 2004/10

From: "Christy Erickson" <perickso@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Differing skill levels
Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2004 15:51:59 -0400

Adam, Your note is humorous but the sad part is this. There are =
probably
those who have fun listening to this group and playing music with them =
and
there are those of us who would like to raise the standards. I know =
many
who have made negative comments about this group and they would not come =
to
listen to us play. It doesn't have anything to do with the type of =
music
played at all but rather the quality of the music that is played. With =
the
large number of unfavorable remarks I've heard, I would say it's really =
not
just me. =20
I'm sure we all had fun experiences like you have described here =
back in
middle school or high school but just as we matured physically and
emotionally, we also matured musically somewhere along the line, =
especially
if we decided to devote most of our time to this endeavor. =20
Your point about photocopied music is well taken but most composers =
I've
known don't compose music for the exclusive purpose of making money. It
sure is nice when they do make a profit but I know of very few people =
who
choose to compose music for a living. By the way, we never use =
photocopied
music when we play. We have an extensive library that goes back many =
years
and some of it is becoming very fragile.
I agree that it would be very difficult and probably impossible at =
this
point in our area to start a professional band. I should add that our =
city
actually pays us (not much) to play in this group and I think it gives =
us
some responsibility to give a good performance. With budgets being the =
way
they are, and the poor quality of some of the performances, I would say =
it's
quite likely the pay will disappear if the quality does not go up. We =
do
have good amateurs. Some are truly very good and others have great
potential to be good players. It's just a matter of someone taking the
initiative to say, "Heh, you guys have potential and let's offer some
incentives to work a little harder." Auditions would definitely be a
motivator for some and a deterrent for others but we would have to start
someplace. =20

Christy

P.S. What do you say we both together for a tennis match? We could =
film it
and the proceeds could be used to buy more music for the band?

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