 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Liam Murphy
Date: 2008-01-25 10:58
Clarinet BBoard,
I feel, as a student of clarinet, that listening to music specific to my chosen field is one of the best ways to learn beyond the teachings of a singular instructor. Use of modern recordings, supplied by the teacher in class or out, could be used as a way of extending the student’s perception of his/her own playing.
The clarinet teacher at my school will often lend me and my peers CDs of various clarinetists. I have borrowed CDs of Sabine Meyer, Karl Leister, Charles Neidich, Guy Deplus, Gary Gray, Anthony Pay, and many more in the time that he has taught me.
I have found that detailed listening to the CDs, and analysis of each soloist's individual style to be one of the most useful studies in my development as a player, and a thoughtful move on the part of my teacher.
Often jazz players will say that a huge part of their musicianship and musical individuality came from extensive listening and imitating of recordings of their chosen field. Is this not true of classical clarinetists and their corresponding repertoire also?
I feel this to be the case.
After some time I began to purchase CDs of artists of my choice, and their styles have rubbed off on me. I feel that I would not be the (better) player I am without the valuable, varied influences that are so readily accessible in this modern world.
To hear sounds different than those that come out of the end of your instructors clarinet, and to be exposed to natural variation while actively being taught, would seem to me to be an excellent way of inducing inspiration and a want to learn in most students.
Many of the professional musicians that I have been exposed to have said that they ONLY listen to music for educational value. If this is a valuable resource for professionals, then why not for the student?
Overall, my generation is advantaged by the abundance of affordable, varied recordings out there, and I think the resource could be utilized further in the teaching of clarinet.
Thanks in advance for any responses
- Liam
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Author: jwiseman114
Date: 2008-01-25 12:46
I think you're instincts are perfect. I think that listening is a part of finding and developing your 'inner ear'.
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2008-01-25 12:58
>>The clarinet teacher at my school will often lend me and my peers CDs of various clarinetists. I have borrowed CDs of Sabine Meyer, Karl Leister, Charles Neidich, Guy Deplus, Gary Gray, Anthony Pay, and many more in the time that he has taught me.
>>
How terrific that your teacher encourages you to listen instead of giving you the high-and-mighty, "Listen only to me" routine. I think I learn as much from listening to music as I do from practicing it.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: EuGeneSee
Date: 2008-01-25 13:22
< Many of the professional musicians that I have been exposed to have said that they ONLY listen to music for educational value. If this is a valuable resource for professionals, then why not for the student? >
. . . ONLY for educational value? I wonder how a professional musician can become so detached from the beauty that can be expressed through music that they see it only as an educational vehicle to teach them the mechanics such as rhythm, harmony, structure, etc . . . are they musicians or are they engineers??
I would daresay that it would be extremely rare to find any accomplished musician, professional or avocational, who listens to music, not for the pleasure of the experience, but as a cold dry textbook. Having never met such a person, I can only guess, but I would think that he/she would be merely an appliance operator (rather than an artist) when playing their instrument . . . how else could one so detached from music as art when hearing it, suddenly become intensly involved and expressive when playing it.
Does this beg the question - how does an automaton become a professional musician?
Eu
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Author: Cass Tech
Date: 2008-01-25 16:20
Liam:
Go for it! Music is one of life's greatest experiences (equal to or better than love or sex). But DON'T limit yourself to clarinet literature. You can learn just as much from great singers, instrumentalists, conductors, pianists, etc. Listen to George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra, Piere Boulez's recordings of 20th century music, Oistrakh, Heifitz, Szeryng, Glenn Gould, Rubenstein, Pollini, Jesse Norman, Placido Domingo, Dietrich Fischer-Diescau. Listen to Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Debussy, Ravel, Mahler, Bruckner, Stravinsky, Bartok, Hindemith, etc. You have a lifetime to explore all their treasures and learn and ENJOY it.
Cass Tech (aka leatherlip)
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Author: Bubalooy
Date: 2008-01-25 18:59
Cass Tech, I think you are on the money. listening to clarinetists is great and valuable, but we can also learn a lot about playing music by listening to the best on other instruments or voice. I recall my university teacher not only recommending recordings to me but also grilling me on why or why not when I said if i particularly liked something or not. He also encouraged me to be open to a wide variety of interpretations and instilled an idea in me that I still value. He convinced me that too many people have an ideal for a piece and (a favorite recording for example) and then measure every other performance by how close they come to that or how much they devieate from it. Instead, we should listen to what the performer IS doing with the piece and be open to entirely different takes. We don't have to like them all, but it is a much fairer ground for criticism.
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Author: Liam Murphy
Date: 2008-01-25 22:16
Thanks all for the replies,
There were a hundred more things on the topic that I would have said. However, out of courtesy, I resisted posting a great big essay on the BBoard .
The "professional" musicians to whom I referred, would usually listen to music in PRIVATE settings as a form of study. They certainly do not lack passion, as they all, play regularly in top class ENSEMBLES, and do tell me of how much they LOVE to play Mahler, Shotakovich, Sibelius and others. -- I should have specified what type of listening and participation I was talking about.
Incidentally, I own, and love to listen to, a huge amount of violin repertoire. I'm not sure why, but I really do enjoy to listen to players like Anne-Sophie Mutter, Gil Shaham, Gilles Apap and lots of others. I like to listen to jazz, "contemporary classical" (Anders Hilborg, Kalevi Aho and others) as well as wind symphony repertoire (Percy Grainger, Alfred Reed, John Barnes Chance etc).
My mortality will not let me hear all that is to be heard out there, but I will try.
- Liam
Post Edited (2008-01-26 01:04)
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Author: Liam Murphy
Date: 2008-01-26 05:39
Liam Murphy said:
< Many of the professional musicians that I have been exposed to have said that they ONLY listen to music FOR EDUCATIONAL VALUE. If this is a valuable resource for professionals, then why not for the student? >
EuGeneSee said:
<. . . ONLY for educational value? I wonder how a professional musician can become so detached from the beauty that can be expressed through music that they see it ONLY AS AN EDUCATIONAL VEHICLE to teach them the mechanics such as rhythm, harmony, structure, etc . . . are they musicians or are they engineers??>
(Stresses added)
By "listening to music" I am only referring to personal listening of recordings
The experienced musicians to whom I refer certainly are not detached form the "beauty of music" in any way shape or form. Nor did their continuing education stand in the way of their passion for what they do.
To listen to music AS an educational vehicle would imply that education is all that is to be obtained from the action. However, I said that listening to the music is used FOR education, I see absolutely no argument against this activity because nothing stands between someone's passion, and their education. Both passion and education can come from the same source, in this case, music. Perhaps I should have omitted the word "Only" in my original statement, even though the respect gained from study can further your already existing passion.
Anyone can listen to music and not learn a thing from it, and will probably not end up respecting or truly enjoying what they have heard, as almost no information has been directly processed and understood by the listener.
To study and appreciate what you have heard, will almost always enhance your already present passion. And in no way diminish what you see as the "Beauty of music"
Basically this has been a misunderstanding that can be summarized as follows:
"educational value" = further understanding of "rhythm, harmony, structure, etc"
Whereas what I meant by the term was:
"Educational value" = "the obtaining of a deeper respect and understanding for what you already have a passion for"
Thanks for making me re-think my original statement,
-Liam
Post Edited (2008-01-26 08:16)
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2008-01-26 10:38
I wonder how this effects our performance of music that was written before recordings. Before recordings, musicians had nothing but the page and I doubt that they heard live music as much as we heard recorded music.
I think I am alone in this idea, though.
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Author: EuGeneSee
Date: 2008-01-26 17:09
Liam: I agree with your further explanation above . . . what got to me was the emphasis shown by the capitalized ONLY. I seemed to me that too much emphasis on the educational aspect overshadowed completely any pure pleasure that might also be involved in listening to music. I think the error here was mine, as I overreacted to MY OWN interpretation of your message. Mea culpa.
Sky: You are hardly alone there. Ever since the dawn of the 20th century, we have been able to, at the flick of a switch, listen to any sort of music by any number of artists. OK, very early on we flicked a lever, as the machines were spring operated, not electric! The musicians of old were most limited in what they could learn from each other's musical performances as they could hear each other play only when they were co-located in place and time. Today, it is as easy to study how a master plays a piece now as it is to compare his performance to that of another master who played it in 1920. I think that most would see how the advent of recorded music would easily have an effect on present musical performance.
Eu
(fixed spelling error; probably didn't catch them all)
Post Edited (2008-01-26 17:12)
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