Klarinet Archive - Posting 000750.txt from 2004/10

From: Adam Michlin <amichlin@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Appealing to the superficial
Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 12:51:40 -0400

At 05:51 PM 10/25/2004 +0200, Joseph Wakeling wrote:
>Well, my experience has been that for many composers and performers of new
>music, it's the process of writing and performing that matters to them,
>and having someone there to listen is (though nice) not the most important
>part. But then again for lots of amateur musicians it's the playing that
>is important---how many people are there who just play piano for
>themselves with no thoughts of ever giving concerts? You wouldn't call
>those people "elitist", so why should that label be ascribed to composers
>who write for their own pleasure?

And my experience is that many of these composers and performers privately
complain about the uneducated masses who don't appreciate their wonderful
work. These are the people I call elitist.

The people who suggest any alteration to Mozart is sacrilegious I call
elitist.

The people who declare any non-traditional interpretation of Mozart invalid
I call elitist.

>I would have thought that your job as a teacher was to open musical doors
>for your students. But it's not your job to kick them through the doors.

Tell me exactly where I advocated kicking them through doors? Or do you
really feel that playing Mozart for students is kicking them through doors?
It, of course, is not. It is merely opening the doors.

>I agree, but it depends on how one goes about getting students to
>listen. Bad teaching doesn't merely mean less information getting
>through, it's an actively destructive process. Presenting music to people
>in the wrong way may not just fail to get them to engage with it, it may
>actually make it a lot more difficult for them to ever engage with that
>kind of music at any time in the future. The same applies to Shakespeare,
>and literature in general. I'm fairly convinced that the teaching of
>Shakespeare in school in most cases puts people off it for life.

And one of the biggest mistakes in teaching Shakespeare is to ignore the
fact that it was written for the stage, not for individual reading. So I
would be all for a field trip to see Romeo and Juliet performed live. Just
as I would be all for a field trip to see K622 performed live.

For those of us who don't live next to a major metropolitan city, we have
to sacrifice and use recordings. Admittedly a discount substitution.

>Yes, but people *choose* to apply to music colleges, and even then, with
>any luck, their teachers look on them as responsible adults whose personal
>choices and desires are also important.

You forget music is almost always an elective.

I never said the children's choices and desires aren't important, for the
record. I said they weren't the most important factor.

>I suggest that if a music teacher plays some music and the students do not
>respond, then something needs changing---the music, the classroom
>approach, or in some cases, the teacher.

Absolutely.

I only add that if a student can get through 4 years of band and never hear
Mozart or Bach or Beethoven there is something serious wrong with all the
above.

I also think students should hear Parker and Ellington and Zeppelin and
Ives. But we have to start somewhere.

>And I would suggest that it's just as important for the students to
>present music they like to the class, and the teacher, as it is for the
>teacher to present music to the students.

I totally agree.

>There were some students in my music class, in school, who were very
>talented rock musicians. The music classes totally failed to allow them
>opportunities to display and develop their talents, and I got the feeling
>that very often they were bored and frustrated with the material they were
>expected to cover. I personally think that was criminal.
>Education should be about developing the student, not filling them with a
>check-list of "prescribed" material.

Well, no. Education should be about developing the student which does
require some amount of "prescribed" materials. Please don't expect me to
debate the quantity of such materials, I know you know that it varies in
each and every student.

>Whatever, my personal experience is that I have learned the most *when I
>did not feel like I was being taught*.

And my personal experience is that I have learned the most when I did feel
like I was being taught. Is being taught such a bad thing? I love learning
either way. Learning is the goal, getting there is of secondary importance.

-Adam

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org