 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: DougR
Date: 2009-01-31 13:51
I'm thinking about going into teaching. I've played for years, and studied with some terrific musicians. But I've never previously considered what it would be like to be on the other end of the dyad, so to speak.
So, for a potential new teacher, can I ask the following (please feel free to be as brief as possible, since I know this is potentially a huge topic):
1, is there somewhere a sample syllabus that suggests which books and method-books to use for different levels of playing?
2, is there such a thing as a "google-group" (i.e., chat group) of woodwind and/or clarinet teachers that anyone knows of? (ideally one that discusses problems and solutions that come up in the lesson, both from technical/instrumental standpoint and from a relational teacher/student standpoint)
That's all I'm asking at the moment; I know the archives here contains vast amounts of material devoted to teaching and plan to search diligently.
Thanks for whatever light you can shed on the above.
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Author: Copland
Date: 2009-01-31 15:35
2. There is a section on the wonderful Sax on the Web forum about teaching that can be found here:
http://forum.saxontheweb.net/forumdisplay.php?f=62
Post Edited (2009-01-31 15:36)
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Author: pewd
Date: 2009-01-31 17:50
1. ask 10 teachers, you'll get 10 different answers
email me offline i'll send you mine
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
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Author: Sarah M
Date: 2009-01-31 20:48
1. There is the Royal Conservatory of Music Woodwind Syllabus (which I believe in the States is called the National Certificate Program).
http://www.rcmexaminations.org/
OR
http://www.nationalmusiccertificate.org/
This provides level by level repertoire, studies, and orchestral exceprts. Students can then sign up for examinations and recieve feedback on their performance. It's a really great system (though the higher the levels the increase cost of the exams).
hope this helps!
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2009-02-01 16:13
So much of what you use depends on the level of student you teach. Beginners, intermediate, advanced, young, high school or college level, older students taking up the clarinet after years of being in the closet. My suggestion is to look at what you used at those levels and see if they are still in print, that way you will be familiar with some. Go to your local music store that stocks clarinet music and choose what you feel fits the level of student you are teaching, that may be different for many students. Base the music on the students level and age. With younger students, after the very beginners book, try to always include a duet, at their level of course, a song or easy piece that they will enjoy playing, a method book or etude. Each of these ideas can be used up to the very advanced level. Method books, including scales, etudes etc. always a solo, depending on their level, there are many "song" books up to collections of major works and as I said, duets are always good to use to let them hear you play, work on intonation, balance, rhythm etc. depending on their level, especially at the lower level. That way they get to actually play a piece of music with someone, you. I don't do that at the college level, too much else to do at their lesson, besides I can't always keep up with them. ESP
www.peabody.jhu.edu/457
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2009-02-01 17:17
EP's advice is right on track as always.
But let me make a couple of additions. Including a song (I taught my granddaughters the Hey Song the second lesson so they would begin to use the fingers as well as the tongue) is a perfect reward for a well prepared lesson by the student.
A bonus is if you have some keyboard skills and can knock out a 12 bar blues progression (just kidding) so they can lean to jam a little. Actually, doing keyboard accompaniment ASAP is a major step and just one step below beginning to think about contest solos (it's never too young). This approach also improves the maintaining of a steady rhythmic pace which can be tough for young players.
I never start a lesson with a student without scales and at any level, from memory as soon as possible. I used to love to use the Hendrickson Method and Book II is really great. Then finally, the solo.
Above all IMHO, if you have elementary students, do not work in their band book unless they are having a great deal of trouble. As a former school music teacher, nothing is worse in a group setting to have one student, yours, be able to play everything while I am giving a group lesson to the other students. It's a bad situation; I like to keep the bar reachable for all at first. But asking the student taking privately to play a little bit of one of his or her "solos" is always great.
Band = band method book; private lesson books = your territory.
HRL
Post Edited (2009-02-01 18:47)
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Author: Tobin
Date: 2009-02-01 19:51
"Above all IMHO, if you have elementary students, do not work in their band book unless they are having a great deal of trouble.As a former school music teacher, nothing is worse in a group setting to have one student, yours, be able to play everything while I am giving a group lesson to the other students."
I am in complete agreement, Hank.
The student (whom you've taught) now knows everything in the book (or at an accelerated rate compared to the class). Regardless of how much they enjoy being ahead they will be bored in class...and that's not fun. It actually stymies their progress.
And I find it hard to believe that Ed doesn't keep up with his students at Peabody!
James
Gnothi Seauton
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Author: Brenda ★2017
Date: 2009-02-01 19:56
Along the way be open-minded enough to learn from your students. They'll feel great that you acknowledge them (and work harder for you!), and you'll continually be a better teacher. You'll be able to discern what little bits of this and that are valuable enough to add to your pocket full of tricks.
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Author: mrn
Date: 2009-02-01 20:00
In my early student days, my teacher had me work out of the Klose method in addition to doing solos and duets. (actually it was "Klose-Prescott First and Second Year," which seems to have most of the best stuff out of the complete method--sort of a Reader's Digest version)
The basic format (for practice and lessons) was long tones, a finger exercise (from Klose's exercises of mechanism), scales (from the Klose scale pattern--we started with the first scale, C major, and just kept adding scales periodically until I had the whole thing learned), then solos and/or duets. Some of the duets we played came out of Klose, but we also used a book put out by Rubank (it had a yellow cover). Eventually we worked on Rose and Baermann etudes.
Actually, come to think of it, when she first introduced me to scales, we used the scale duets from the Klose book, where the student plays the scale and the teacher plays an accompaniment part. We then moved to using the famous Klose scale pattern and eventually to playing scales in 3rds.
Anyway, Klose's a nice book to have even if you don't use it extensively, since it covers a lot of ground in one volume. There are books out there with more extensive coverage of scales and arpeggios (e.g., Jettel's Klarinettenschule vol. 2, and Baermann's Klarinettenschule vol. 3), but Klose's still a good place to start.
For solos, the Associated Boards of the Royal Schools of Music (in the UK) puts out a nice syllabus here that should give you a decent idea of the levels of difficulty of various solos. In Texas, the UIL prescribed music list assigns levels (called "classes") to contest solos, the most difficult solos being "class 1" and the least difficult being "class 3." "Class 1" covers a pretty broad range of levels, though, since the "easy class 1" solos are probably about a Grade 6 on the ABRSM syllabus, while "hard class 1" solos include Debussy's Premiere Rhapsodie and Stravinsky's Three Pieces, which show up on the second level (LRSM) of ABRSM's pre-professional diploma syllabus. (Some of the pieces on the diploma syllabus, especially at the DipABRSM level, appear to be included because of their importance to the repertoire more than their difficulty level, though.)
Post Edited (2009-02-01 20:24)
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Author: GBK
Date: 2009-02-01 20:16
Hank's advice is good.
Beginning group lessons in school are difficult enough to teach without having one private student sitting there bored to tears while you are introducing new material in the band method book which he/she already did with their private teacher 6 months ago.
Private teachers who use the students' band method book during their own private lesson instruction time are either lazy or unimaginative in teaching clarinet.
With all the great beginning clarinet books available, why waste time by using the student's band method book?
...GBK
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2009-02-02 02:44
GBK and Tobin,
And even worse situation is when the private teacher does some things that are really not pedagogically correct.
I remember a sax student who had a private teacher, a fine jazz sax player that I knew well BTW, who showed the young student only the BIS fingering for Bb on the alto sax. I'm pretty much of a behavioral psychology disciple (Thorndike and Skinner) and know the strong effect of the Law of Primacy. I never did get the student straightened out as I recall.
HRL
PS On using alternate method books, I know GBK and I both have used the Arban Book; talk about some work over the break! The double and triple tongue section is tricky. LOL.
Post Edited (2009-02-02 02:52)
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Author: pewd
Date: 2009-02-02 03:40
along with avoiding the band method books, i've learned not to start the beginning students too far ahead of their school clarinet class. around here school starts the last week of august. i get approached in late may to start some of the beginners. i've found that if i do that, by september they are so far ahead of the band class that they are bored, and sometimes, turned off.
e.g., if you've been playing for 3 months, it is very boring to go back to playing only on a mouthpiece and barrel for 3-4 weeks as they do in the beginner band classes.
so i now wait until august 1 to start beginners - so they're not so far ahead of their classes. those taking lessons quickly jump to the front of the class anyway...
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
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Author: GBK
Date: 2009-02-02 04:07
Paul -
Our school district starts most beginners during a free six week instrumental music program in the summer before entering the 4th grade. Parents are encouraged to have their child, if possible, attend this valuable "early beginner" program.
During those 6 weeks, we cover all the tedious, but important basics in very small instrumental groups of 3 or 4 students, so that each students gets sufficient individual attention.
Thus, when school begins for these 4th graders, most of whom have had the 6 week summer program, it has given them a nice head start. The new 4th grade band usually is able to put on a respectable winter concert, playing more than just whole note, half note songs.
Those students who were not able to attend the summer program, are all grouped together in their lessons, and enter the new 4th grade band a little bit later.
...GBK
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Author: DougR
Date: 2009-02-02 14:44
Hi everyone!!
this is beautiful, exactly what I was looking for. Thanks to all of you for your thoughtful responses. I'll be taking your advice and thinking about each of your posts. You all seem to have a daunting depth of knowledge about rep, approaches, and tidbits like not getting your student too far ahead of his/her peers in band class.
Again, humble thanks to all.
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Author: clariniano
Date: 2009-02-02 19:23
Look under various aspects of playing in teaching the instrument, and/or write down the approaches yur teachers did with you. I know there's several for embouchure and recommended mouthpieces for beginners, a few times finger height was discussed.
One of the big things that have helped me is a studio information packet (I can send you the MS Word file for those who are interested). Look too, what books the various levels of exams use. Here the big ones are the Galper Clarinet Method, Book 1, for Intermediate students book 2 of the Galper Clarinet Method and the Hite Melodious & Progressive Studies book 1. Over the years I've built up a nice collection of recordings and especially sheet music for clarinetists of a wide range of abilities, I have a few pieces that I have composed as well, most are in the intermediate/advanced level, but a couple of them are playable by beginners with only a few weeks of lessons. Duets help a lot too, I have some which I arranged as well. And try to hold performances of students, I've done successful student concerts with as few as 8 students performing (this was the first year I held one) by having ensembles as well as solo performances. Solid piano skills will help too. (I'm learning some of the clarient student's piano parts for the next student concert in April!)
As for using band books, I rarely use them, but with at least three students, the pacing of the band books was right for them, though in two of the three cases the students had learning challenges and in the third was a rather young beginner. With beginning students where the clarinet method I normally use doesn't work for some reason or another (eg: I had a student with visual tracking issues and had trouble with the relatively small print of the Galper method), I put her on something similar, that went at a slightly slower pace but was printed somewhat larger. This girl went from writing in note names to being one of my best music readers in a short space of time!
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2009-02-02 22:46
Clariano,
Those are the kinds of imaginative and insightful things that make a musician into a teacher! Nice work.
HRL
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Author: Nessie1
Date: 2009-02-03 08:59
One thing about exam syllabuses (syllabi, if you prefer) - please note that they are exam requirements, not a teaching syllabus. The ABRSM certainly used to state this in the syllabus (I'm not sure whether they still do). There is work that needs to be done between the grades and those teachers who just tell a pupil to get some things from the grade 5 syllabus as soon as the pupil has taken grade 4 (or whatever grades it might be) are not doing the job right. In fact, particularly with the higher grades, I think it is a good idea to wait to enter for the exam until the pupil has learned several pieces from the syllabus (resonably well, perhaps not necessarily all of them to performance standard) and the scales are well under the fingers. That way the exam will seem much less nerve-wracking.
If you want to give the pupil a bit of a challenge in the meantime, there are other ways of doing this besides exams - music festivals, school concerts or your own concerts for pupils if you can organise it, auditions for ensembles etc.
Vanessa.
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2009-02-03 22:41
I've actually had enough parents balk at buying two method books, and enough students who don't want to work at anything they're not "doing in band" that I tend to work them through whichever band book they're using for the first couple of years. Typically this gets them through the first and second books of Standards of Excellence (most common around here) OR first and second books of Student Instrumental Course (also common). If they've done S.o.E., I typically put 'em in the second book of S.I.C. because it covers roughly twice as much...and then on to Rubank Advanced and after that, it depends on the student.
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2009-02-03 23:37
Katrina,
When I took sax lessons at BGSU many years ago, my professor Lou Marini Sr. (dad of Blue Lou of SNL, Blues Brothers, and BS&T) never used a book. We worked on scales and chord/arpeggio patterns. Marin wrote out some very neat 3rd, 5th, and chromatic 7th chord patterns om mimeograph paper. No copyright problems. Man, did I learn to get around the instrument.
I still play the exercises and may even have a copy around. Marini would write the first few measures and then you were expected to learn the pattern through out the entire range that you were able to master.
You really don't need another method book for those that "balk."
Teach the little darlings of the BPs (Balking Parents), to transpose. They'll thank you for this later.
HRL
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2009-02-04 00:11
Yeah...I wish...
Frequently the kids just want to work on what they've got to do in band. Including band music. _I_ balk at teaching them their band music!!!
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Author: clarinetguy ★2017
Date: 2009-02-04 00:37
All of you have made excellent suggestions. For younger students, I also try to avoid using the band book that is used in school.
An interesting book for young students that I recently found is Alfred's Band Expressions. For those who already use it in school it wouldn't be a good choice, but for those who don't, I've found that it works well. There are a lot of nice tunes that students really seem to enjoy.
The Tune a Day books were discussed here a few months ago. They have their good points, but there are probably better choices out there. Still, I really like the New Tune a Day Performance Pieces. There are some nice selections that work well for advanced elementary and middle school level students.
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2009-02-04 12:03
Katrina,
I thought you were the teacher and they were the students? If you are in a school setting in loco parentis still prevails as long as you are being reasonable.
HRL
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2009-02-04 14:42
Well, yes, Hank. I'm not in the school; I teach privately at a music store and at my home. All of this is not currently applicable, actually, as none of my students are like this. Well, one student always rolls her eyes when I ask her to do the finger exercises in Rubank...
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2009-02-04 15:03
Hi Katrina,
So, she has good eye muscle control. But maybe Rubank is not the best choice and there are other method books that might promote less disrespect from that student (yes, eye-rolling is not an appropriate response for the young lady). I'll bet she does the same thing to her parent(s). This is probably not a new behavior.
As a teacher at home and in a music store, you still have got to insist that you are the teacher and the student is the student (not that you need to make a federal case out of it).
I taught in music stores for many, many years and always had students on my waiting list (I really had a great contest record with my solo & ensemble students). I never made things too easy but we worked hard and had a lot of fun as well (I'm still pretty much the same with my graduate research students). I can only remember a few times when I had to talk to the parents about their child not doing as I instructed. But this happens everywhere.
Are you familiar with the Premack Principle? This may be something for you to check out. I even use it on myself! Grade the exams (which I hate) and then I get to play Freecell.
http://www.psywww.com/intropsych/ch05_conditioning/premack_principle.html
HRL
Post Edited (2009-02-04 15:22)
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Author: clariniano
Date: 2009-02-04 15:33
Hank,
Most students benefit from a structured method book or studies/repertoire when they are more advanced.
Katrina,
Why not simply charge a materials/registration fee? (None of my students or their parets balk at this, since they usually don't have time or don't know what to get, plus I go about once a week to purchase music and other equipment for myself and at least two or three students) Remember that many parents and students have no idea what quality music instruction looks like, so don't let them too many things. You can't let students and parents dictate your music instruction, after all, you're the expert. Not only that, but some of the pieces and studies used in method books are required or an option on exams. You can always choose who you want to work with, especially if you work independantly, I screen my prospective students through a questionnaire and/or interview. Then some students will find the band books too easy, and need to be challenged. If I had kept some of my students in their band books, some of theprents would have been unhappy or quit, especially with students who do the assigned work in between lessons. You don't want to waste the parents money by having students take 2 years in a band book that could be covered in 4-6 months in a method designed for private instruction.
As for students being bored in school because of private lessons, they can be used as assistants, or they can learn another instrument. (here in some schools you are required to have studied clarinet before you learn saxophone--one of my first clarinet students started clarinet two years befor school band had begun, and when he was in Grade 7, he was asked to play clarinet in the Grade 9 band (he went to a 7-9 school at the time) because of his lessons, and I encouraged him and other students to audition for some of the high level ensembles here.
Meri
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2009-02-04 16:49
Clariano,
Sure, agreed. Did I not make that clear? I still use Klose, Baerman, and Rose and/or similar etude or methods for myself as well as advancing students.
Caution on using students in the same grade level as "assistants" in even an informal way. Peer pressure and envy can often make a well intentioned gesture into a difficult situation for you and the students.
HRL
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The Clarinet Pages
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