 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: elmo lewis
Date: 2004-04-29 01:45
I have a young student who is learning the Hindemith Sonata. Today he told me that he has been practicing by playing along with a CD. He has a program that can slow down the CD without changing the pitch level.
¿Do you think it is alright for him to practice this way or should I ask him to stop? He doesn't seem to be learning any faster or slower than other students who have worked on this piece and is making the same kind of errors that all students make. Some opinions please.
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Author: Brandon
Date: 2004-04-29 02:43
Personally, I would encourage the student to stop. By playing along with the CD, the student is not practicing with a metronome, as one should always do. Second, my hunch would be that the student is not playing with the appropriate sound, because the student will try to play under the CD. In that I mean the student will play softer and not use the correct amount of air support. This will go against everything you are teaching him. I have heard of people doing this for fun with pieces that person already knows, but to do it while still in the learning process makes little to no sense to me. By listening to a recording and playing along with it, the student is most likely playing off reaction, rather than correctly in time. There are probably numerous other reasons to discourage this, but to be honest I cannot think of any of the top of my head. If the student is intent on playing like that, there is a company I believe called Coda Music that will make a program called Vivace. The computer will play the accompianment. This is a useful training tool for students. On a final note, I would encourage the student to stop and focus on getting the piece rhythmically correct by playing with a metronome, not a CD.
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Author: Clarinetist
Date: 2004-04-29 06:19
I don´t think that´s a good thing, either. Like Brandon said, most likely, he is playing softer than he would do without the CD. The other bad thing is that he is probably trying to imitate the player who is on the recording and not playing the piece on his on way.
I don´t see there´s anything wrong if he just listens the CD. But he should listen different recordings so that he gets different kinds of ideas how to play the piece.
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Author: msloss
Date: 2004-04-29 12:35
Hold the phone for a second. How does playing along with a professional group damage his sense of time, rhythm, or pitch? When is this student going to have the opportunity to play with other musicians even remotely of the caliber on his recording? I didn't think so. Emulating the sound, phrasing, articulation, etc. of a professional player should be commended, not discouraged. This most certainly shouldn't be done to the exclusion of traditional practice with and without a metronome and tuner. The concerns raised by the respondents so far can be addressed simply by coaching your student on how to use the tool properly, which means playing with full air, being aware of time and pitch, listening without playing and following the score, and so on.
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Author: Pappy
Date: 2004-04-29 16:12
Seems to me this would be similar to using Music Minus One CD's, which are a great practice aid for all levels, IMO.
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Author: hans
Date: 2004-04-29 17:05
FWIW, I play along with MMO type recordings frequently and agree with the last three posts - they are helpful.
Hans
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-04-29 17:19
I would think it to be beneficial. You may even want to listen along with them and point out where they can hear that the clarinet doesn't have the melody and now must be part of the 'background'.
And be sure to remind them to work on those harder parts WITHOUT the recording (to get it into their fingers/head) and not to use the recording EVERY time they practice. But I really don't see much harm in it.
Alexi
BTW, a girl in my chamber ensemble class records our practice 'run-throughs' to practice along with and that, combined with practice without them and a little help on the side, has resulted in a dramatic improvement over the course of a few months and she can now play those songs much better.
US Army Japan Band
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2004-04-29 18:24
I am of the opinion that it is okay for the student to "learn" the work this way, but in terms of interpretive details such as phrasing, ritardands etc.
..it is best to dispose of the MMO recording after he/she has become fairly well aquainted with the music.
Once they have learned a good deal of the hard stuff I would discard with the record and work with an pianist on the music. Then you can shed some of the mannerisms the Music minus one may have on the solo clarinetisit.
David Dow
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Author: David Peacham
Date: 2004-04-29 18:38
I do a lot of my practising using a similar technique. I input the music (usually just the clarinet part, the piano part would take too much work) into the notation package Mozart. I can then play it back at any speed I want. This is more effective than a metronome because it makes you play in tune (albeit equal-temperament-in-tune) as well as in time.
Some caution is required. There is a tendency to let the computer cover up ones mistakes. Also, it makes you play very rigidly to time: this is useful when learning the notes, but does nothing for subtlety of interpretation. But that is equally true of a metronome.
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If there are so many people on this board unwilling or unable to have a civil and balanced discussion about important issues, then I shan't bother to post here any more.
To the great relief of many of you, no doubt.
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