 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: janlynn
Date: 2002-05-16 19:30
i need to find a clarinet teacher -
im an adult who is semi serious. im at an advanced level and play in a wind symphony for the fun of it. i want to continue with lessons to keep my playing up, but im not interested in devoting 'all' my time to practicing. 1 or 2 hours a day, sometimes none at all - depending on what happens on any given day.
my question is this - are there teachers who will take a student who just wants to play for the fun of it? and besides asking what they expect, how can i tell when ive found my match? what kinds of questions should i ask, what kind of information should i give? i dont want to sound like i dont want to work at all, i just dont want to spend my every waking minute at it.
thanks
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Author: Ginny
Date: 2002-05-16 20:31
You can only really tell after a few lessons. We have quit quickly on a few teachers who seemed off. Ask them questions over the phone. Avoid those with cat boxes in the front room or white carpets covered with vinyl paths. (My son actually had each of these, known as the white carpet lady and Mr. Cat Box)
Ginny
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Author: Jerry McD
Date: 2002-05-17 00:03
Janlynn,
The best thing to do is ask questions and be upfront about your desires. Any good teacher is going to find out the motivation for each student. I would suggest that if it is at all possible to find a teacher that is experienced with teaching adults. This person will have an understanding that real life occassionally gets in the way of practice time. I think every teacher has the right to create a 'reasonable expectation' of practice. The key is how do you define this reasonale expectation, it is very different from children to adults. One option might be to have a lesson every other week. I would also recommend that you have some goals yourself.....maybe put on a recital for family and friends. This will help you focus and give you a reason to practice. I can speak from experience that taking lessons and practicing just to keep your chops up gets old in a hurry. Good luck and keep us posted!
Jerry McD.
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Author: Allen Cole
Date: 2002-05-17 06:39
What specifically are your complaints about your last teacher, and how much to you actually practice? Are you comfortable in all of your major keys? Knowing this would help the group advise you better.
I work with quite a few adults, and agree with you that there is a satisfactory level of playing were non-virtuoso adult amateurs can enjoy themselves. Personally, I have advanced adults learn their major scales, scales-in-thirds and I/IV/V arpeggios over the first year of study, coupled with the Master Theory Workbook. If this can be achieved and maintained in all 12 keys, I believe that their technique is sufficient for self-enjoyment and creativity. Sight-reading and creative activities then become our primary goals.
I also believe that adults need a longer time over which to develop, and longer lesson periods to ensure thoroughness. If you are playing in a community band, perhaps there is a professional player involved who could help you. People who are involved in amateur music will be more in tune with your needs and goals.
I also agree with Jerry that you need a project. A number of my adults are exploring jazz improvisation. Their technical exercises (all of which they transposed from the key of C themselves) have paved the way, and there is much that they can do approching their music as a hobby. I also like the idea of a recital. You might also consider forming a chamber group. But Jerry is right. You do need goals other than mantainanece of chops.
Question potential teachers closely, and give them the info that they need about you. I recommend against the every-two-weeks option. Most teachers are going to consider that a non-starter. Be careful about how you describe wanting to play just for the fun of it. "Just for the fun of it" may carry a connotation that you don't practice or that you don't work on technical items. Be sure that the instructor knows you goals and your playing habits right up front.
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Author: gemmaelizabeth
Date: 2002-05-17 10:16
Why not try a music student as a teacher.
The thing is, music students need experience, and if you are only playing for fun, there is less pressure on the student to get you up to certain standards that children would need for exams etc....
Plus, everything is fresh in students minds, and conservatoire taught students are usually taught by professionals, therefore you will be getting professional teaching for half the price! Hurrah!
Another bonus is, students know what its like to juggle work etc... with practise and will probably be more understanding towards you if you can't practise as much, than a full time musician or teacher would be.
oh and students are always broke!
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Author: janlynn
Date: 2002-05-17 12:30
okay - let me try to provide a little more information -
what i didnt like about my last teacher - theres actually not that many things - he was a good teacher. a very good teacher, and i think thats what the problem was. its just that he was soooo - i dont know the word other than strict, that he acted as tho my goal was to become the next famous clarinetist. and all i wanted was to make sure i didnt slip behind.
i had weekly lessons, and beteween work, wind symphony, clarinet choir, and lessons - i didnt make enough progress when it was time for my next lesson. and i was afraid to face him on those days and be very nervous and ...its like when you get all this homework from a teacher and they think theyre class is the only one.
so i decided the things i didnt enjoy had to go. that was clarinet choir (becuz of the level difficulty) and lessons. i worked out of the perier book and would work on 1 etude for a month or so. but sometimes he would give me 2-4 etudes to work on at once and i just didnt know how much or how little time to work on each one when i really only had time to work on one. i was afraid to tell him it was too much.
we never worked on scales, which ive always wanted to learn but was always too busy working on etudes. we never worked on solos except maybe to start an opening but that was it.
what i need - i think - is someone who will understand that i have a wind symphony to practice for in addition to lessons, in addition to work and other things that come up in life. i want to have FUN. heyyy - i think thats it. it was never FUN. no duets - nothing different to keep the interest. just etude after etude.
i hear there is a new music school opening in my area. it is being run by the conductor of a well known oechestra here, and im guessing that many of the orchestra players will be giving the lessons. i just fear i will get into the same situation.
and - how much would i realistically practice? - 1-2 hours 3 or 4 times a week. i am considering that i will be at symphony and a lesson 2 days a week - that leaves 5 to practice and a day or 2 to do something else besides practice.
i hope this additional information had helped. what i really would like to know is what specific kind of questions should i ask and what should i be listening for in the answer to see if its the kind of teacher that will be right for me?
thanks JL
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Author: Jerry McD
Date: 2002-05-17 15:04
Janlynn,
You raise some great questions that absolutely need answering before you fork over good money for lessons. The one thing I would recommend is that you sharpen the focus of what YOU want out of lessons. If you came to me and wanted to take lessons the first question I would ask you is "what do you want to accomplish?" (if you were a child the first question I would ask is why do you want to play the clarinet, that way you can avoid the 'my mom is making me' student). If your answer was a reasonable long term goal I would leave it at that, but if it was very short term or unfocused I would ask "Then what?" That way I could really figure out what you wanted and then we could map out a plan together of how to get there. I think what your last teacher didn't give you was any practical application of your etudes. Besides, etudes generally aren't great music...the solo and ensemble repetoire is where it's at, but you need to work on specific skills developed by etudes. Hopefully your next teacher will help make the link between these two. In your last post you mentioned that you can practice 1-2 hours a day 3 or 4 days a week. This is 6-8 hours a week of practice and my opinion is that this is a very reasonable amount of practice for a busy adult. I might encourage you to try and find some time every day (even if it's only 15 minutes to run through scales), but that's for you to work out with your next teacher. Finally (sorry about this long winded post) the idea of a music student as a teacher could possibly be very good because their playing skills are very sharp, they have had good instruction, and they are generally up on equipment (if this issue comes up). The one thing I would disagree with gemmaelizabeth about is the understanding of busy lives and not practicing much. Music students by nature prioritize their lives around their practice schedule and whether they realize it or not are constantly making sacrifices/choices in order to practice and might not understand why you are not willing to do that too. That doesn't mean that they would not be very good, extremely motivated teachers but their perspective might not be compatable with your needs. I only add this because I am both a music student (finishing up my first year back after a long layoff) and a busy adult who teaches. I apologize again for the sermon-length post but I hope this helps.
Good luck!
Jerry McD.
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Author: LynnB
Date: 2002-05-17 15:08
Janlynn, as people have already mentioned, being open and honest about your goals will help the teacher understand. Sometimes that takes some guts to stand up to someone who is giving you more work than you can take on at the moment. But he/she may sit back and say "oh yeah no problem". Most likely they are coming from their own mindset where practicing is a full-time job. Probably most of their students have the same mindset as well. I would think it is reasonable for a teacher to be flexible enough to help you stay within your goals and have fun.
Also, you might want to think of taking a lesson once a month if the teacher allows instead of weekly. This will take a lot of pressure off while giving you more time to prepare for your next lesson.
I'm also an adult who started lessons again (with a wonderful teacher I might add). I too started out with the same goals as you. However, now that I'm into it, I find myself squeezing in more practice time and working harder at it. Wasn't planning that but I'm on a mission now! Good luck in your search.- LynnB
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Author: Mike_M
Date: 2002-05-17 16:07
Boy, these getting long...
I was fortunate enough to find a teacher who really taught me to teach myself. We covered some very fundamental things like pitch, warm-ups for agility, tone, embouchure, etc. I took lessons for about four months when my life wasn’t so hectic, and now I go back once in a while for a tune-up (with very specific goals in mind). In that regard, I guess he is more like a coach.
Also, most teachers will want you to schedule regular weekly lessons over a period of a month. They have very good reasons for doing that, but when you call teachers and interview them, ask if they are willing to be flexible and fit you in with on a day’s notice.
If price is not so much an issue, I would try to contact a local Symphony player, or top freelancer/teacher. In my experience, they seem to be able to focus on specific goals rather that just working through a method book.
I guess my comments weren't very short either…
Good Luke
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