 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: luca1
Date: 2011-01-18 05:08
I just finished reading through the topic about who was your teacher's teacher .... (mine was Simeon Bellison....on both sides (two teachers)) .... and got to thinking about my lessons with Abe Galper back in the late 70's. I'm wondering if others can share something about the actual lessons: did he actually ever play/show/model anything for you? My lessons consisted solely of my playing, and his critique. I remember during one lesson when I asked to hear him play, he suggested I by a ticket to the symphony..... fair enough I suppose, and I was attending many, many concerts during those years and absolutely loved his tone & expressiveness....but, I do think a quick minute of "showing" is worth a thousand words describing .....
Did anyone else get this sort of response?
I was a "serious student" at the time .... though not as fantastic as his then stellar student James Campbell....
( as an aside,and off the pedagogical topic, my favorite memory of Mr. Galper was at a dinner his wife prepared for a group of his students ....falafels .... and Abe chiding his wife that "it's good but ... not quite right" .... "it is missing the grit: the desert sand" the missing ingredient he remembered from his Tel Aviv falafels .....). (she loved his wryness ....we did too).
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Author: Brenda ★2017
Date: 2011-01-19 13:05
Oh yes, Charna loved to take good care of Abe's students and still has a wonderful sense of humor.
Abe was my clarinet grandfather as my teacher used to study with him. I took a total of two lessons from him - it's a long way to his house. He played for me, using my clarinet and my mouthpiece. So I guess he'd learned a thing or two since you'd studied with him (she said wryly!). I wasn't thrilled about his using my mouthpiece but at his age he really had more to lose than I did. I guess he wanted to know if it was playing in tune with the setup that I had back then. Now I have a new mouthpiece that makes the clarinet play much better in tune.
The biggest thing he taught me in those two lessons was that staccato doesn't mean really short, it only means shorter; aproximately 1/2 of the time that the note normally would be without the staccato marking. That little piece of advise helped me master one of the studies I was working on that my brain, up till then, wouldn't wrap itself around because I was pecking at those notes.
Now that I'm using his Method Books with my students I can truly see that these seemingly insignificant things - how to practice, how to breath, how to reduce tension in the neck and shoulders, how to do all these "little" things, the exercises that he chose to include in those small books - all of those things are in the books with a much larger picture in mind. All of those small things, if learned well, are vital for expert playing in the future. When reading a small story written by one of his students who now is playing in a symphony, the man explained that Abe helped him with a particulary challenging section of his music. Abe asked what alternate fingering he was using, and then about his breathing. This former student said that Abe nailed the problem with those short questions. He had only forgotten the basic things that Abe had taught him all those years before.
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2011-01-19 17:26
I knew Abe the last 10 years of his life, wrote the forward for one of his books (upbeat Baermann Scales), and was/am his Business Partner for the Register Key/Tube invention.
He was one of the most genuine, and nice guys that I've ever known. He absolutely had opinions, but would voice them in a positive, and gentle way.
Great Teacher, great person. I still use his method books from his Scales to Book 1 and 2. They make great pre-rose material (Pre Hite Melodious-progressive studies)
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
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Author: Paul Globus
Date: 2011-01-19 20:22
I knew Abe Galper well. I saw him for the last time at his home in Toronto a few months before he died.
I agree with David Blumberg's comments. Abe Galper was special. A real "mensch," as they say. He played for me almost every time I saw him. He would even call me up and play for me over the telephone occasionally.
The most surprising thing was his open mindnesses to new ideas. He was like a kid in that way -- his enthusiasm for music and for all things clarinet never diminished, even as he aged. I've never seen anything quite like it.
I wrote a short piece about Abe Galper that appeared in The Clarinet magazine after his death. I said that his ultimate lesson to us all was that "he died young but delayed it as long as possible."
I miss him.
Post Edited (2011-01-19 20:23)
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2011-01-19 20:50
While Abe was never my teacher, he was a dear friend and helped all of my children when we visited at his home with essentially master classes. He played clarinet duets with my oldest son, gave my middle son pointers on trumpet, and my youngest some advice on piano. He introduced me to traditional klezmer, taking me around town to visit with his friends.
Charna was always the consummate hostess: the smell of fresh tomatos, lox, and bagels brings her sharply into my mind's focus. Our whole family spent quite a few weekends there.
Abe was a charming person, and if a heaven existed he'd be standing at the gates welcoming all.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2011-01-21 13:05
Guy Legere noticed the thread here and asked me to add this:
Quote:
"Abe took me in as a student, a rank amateur.
He was helpful and patient with me.
He however never did play for me. Instead, Abe would flip my mouthpiece around and stand in front of me and play my clarinet as I blew.
I sounded amazing. Then he would say, “See, just blow”.
He was also responsible for giving me a push to restart my reed work that had been put on hold while I was at McGill.
He also pushed me into a community orchestra. After I told him that I had declined an offer to join he said, “People kill to get into an orchestra”.
So I joined and had lots of fun."
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Author: Alseg
Date: 2011-01-21 18:07
I asked Mr. Galper a question via email. Not only did he answer me....He did it by telephone! In fact, he called me twice.
(Keep in mind that long distance rates prevailed between Canada and the USA at that time). A great guy.
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2011-01-21 23:22
David Blumberg has a number of excellent Galper recordings, including a terrific Shepherd on the Rock. Unfortunately, the site where it lived seems to have gone away. Perhaps David can give us a new steer.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Alseg
Date: 2011-01-22 00:30
Here is a nice letter written to the Klarinet mailing list at the time of Mr. Galper's death.
[http://test.woodwind.org/Databases/lookup.php/Klarinet/2004/08/000337.txt]
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
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Author: leonardA
Date: 2011-01-24 20:15
I studied with Guy Yehuda at University of North Florida who had studied with Galper. So, indirectly I felt that I was getting some Galper. Of course we used the Galper books. Occasionally he would show me a shortcut of some kind and he would say "That's a Galper thing." The books are excellent, and once I started playing real music I could see the value of them. I do remember Dr. Yehuda mentioning the milk and cookies which were always served at his lessons.
Leonard
Post Edited (2011-01-25 16:08)
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