Author: vjoet
Date: 2006-01-05 14:25
Sylvain,
A good teacher teaches the student in the most effective way for that student. Prerequisite to that is the teacher's evaluation of where the student is.
Beginners need direct instruction. This is how you hold the clarinet. This is how to form your embouchure.
In the masterclasses that Mr Pay teaches, it is my belief that he seeks to develop the artistry of his students by having them find solutions for themselves, for as he states there are many solutions, and the player often is not consciously aware of what it is he is doing to overcome the problem.
For example, in descending from the upper clarion to the lower, eg, A down to B, that B, with its greater resistance, will tend to be preceeded with a gutteral noise. You can occasionally hear this in recordings of even renouned clarinetists. If you pay attention to eradicating it, you will, though your solution may not be identical to mine (which I only partially understand mentally --as Mr. Pay suggests -- for it more of a mind-body connection with the instrument, than an intellectual 'knowing'.): It seems I raise the back portion of the tongue on the descent, while simultaneously slackening the force of the air stream.
In teaching advanced students, I think Mr Pay's approach--self-discovery of what works--is totally correct. For beginners through intermediate, I'd say if a teacher can't make suggestions and tell how the student might be able to achieve what the music needs, then that teacher is too frigid to be of much benefit to that level of player.
vJoe
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The Clarinet BBoard
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