 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: musiklover
Date: 2024-05-15 12:08
Hello everyone,
I would like to ask if there's anyone like me who stopped playing the clarinet for years and then want to take lessons again.
I used to play the clarinet when I was a kid, and stopped for almost 5 years. Two years ago, I picked up my clarinet again and had some lessons with a teacher. However, the lesson seems a little bit without goals and randomly. For example, my teacher sometimes asks me what she can do for me at the beginning of the course. Sometimes I have questions, but sometimes I don't. Then she randomly picked up some etudes (from Baermann) or relative easy duets. I did improve during the few months of lesson, but it all seems really randomly. Since I have mostly learned all the basics of clarinet, I am not sure if it is normal to feel like this.
The reason I want to go back to lessons is that I think there's absolutely something I can still learn, e.g. better staccato, better tone quality. I want to also learn some solo pieces, but it hard to know which level of the piece fits me.
I hope to get some advices from others. Thank you!
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Author: m1964
Date: 2024-05-15 12:32
Hi,
I may be in a position to help you, as I was in a similar situation a few years ago.
I was training to become a professional musician, so I had some serious training.
However, I quit and went to a totally different field. Sold my clarinets and did not play for about 26 years.
About 5 years ago, I decided to restart playing. Bought a used Buffet E12. After 2-3 weeks of practicing, I joined a local band where the 1st clarinet is a retired pro and is wonderful jazz/band musician.
I kept practicing (long notes, attack, etc.) but was not progressing and felt that I was just stagnating.
By a chance, I met a wonderful well-known clarinet player and teacher who agreed to start lessons with me.
AFTER A FEW MONTHS, I started to see/hear improvements. I had many bad habits like biting, anchored tongue, etc. so it is taking time to correct them.
FOR YOU, I would suggest this:
It feels like you are not completely satisfied with your current teacher.
I would try to research if there are college level clarinet teachers in your area and possibly arrange for a lesson or two. See if another teacher does something differently.
Then you can make a decision if you want to stay with your current teacher.
I believe that a student needs to trust their teacher 100%.
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Author: Julian ibiza
Date: 2024-05-15 17:47
My wife also returned to playing about five years ago after about 25 years since she studied music. She's progressed in leaps and bounds from where she left off, although I'm not sure her teacher is really that great. His thing seems to be giving her something rather advanced for her level to practice, and commenting that he doesn't really expect she can do it, and she comes home grumbling about it, but determined to prove him wrong. I don't think his method is the product of any particular cunning, but it happens to work because of their respective personalities. My point is that a good teacher is a teacher that works for you for whatever reason and conversely, a bad teacher for you is one that doesn't work for you for whatever reason. But I think that any teacher should be reasonably able to explain to you why they have you doing whatever they have you doing if you should ask, and if they can't, then I think that it's rather doubtful that they know what they're doing.
Never be afraid to ask questions and express any doubts to your teacher, because your understanding is an important part of your learning process and their ability to clarify and justify their methods is an important indicator of their competence as teachers.
Julian Griffiths
Tel. 34 696 798 853
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2024-05-15 22:19
A few thoughts:
I worked with adult students occasionally over my career. It always seemed important to me to figure out with the adult learner what his or her goals were. Just wanting to "improve" depended heavily on what the student wanted to do musically.
Adults are not children in grown-up bodies. They have careers and jobs, they have family and social needs and obligations, and they have any number of other demands made regularly on their time, so practice time may be limited and needs to be more goal-focused than that of a younger student. As the teacher, the best I can do is provide a framework, a set of experiences within which the student can approach his or her own goals. I can't (and wouldn't presume to) set the goals myself.
Part of this teaching-learning process includes discussion about the student's interests and how the teacher's experiences can support them. It depends on the teacher's receptiveness to questions and the student's willingness to ask about the things that seem like important things to improve. And, of course, if the teacher notices a specific technical need or deficit, the student's openness to suggestions about filling those needs is important. If the result seems random, I think that's less important than whether or not there is improvement, linear or not.
"There's absolutely something I can still learn, e.g. better staccato, better tone quality," goes without saying for any of us. Even highly skilled players continue to learn.
As for solo repertoire, once you have mutual trust between yourself and a teacher, the teacher can guide you. Or you can ask about pieces you find by trolling around YouTube or online sheet-music outlets. There needs to be some mutual understanding about your expectation. Jazz? "Classical?" Folk? Klezmer? (I had one student for whom this was his only interest.) Music to play at home? Chamber music to play with friends?
Karl
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Author: m1964
Date: 2024-05-17 03:04
Karl,
I find your reply very thoughtful.
As a teacher, do you expect your students to trust you 100% ?
I think that since OP is doubting the teacher, he/she may think that the teacher is picking up the material randomly.
The teacher, however, may have a good idea about the needs of the OP.
What would you do in a situation like that?
Thank you
*** I trust my teacher 100% .
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2024-05-17 17:24
m1964 wrote:
> Karl,
> I find your reply very thoughtful.
> As a teacher, do you expect your students to trust you 100% ?
>
Not at first. Until we've worked together for awhile, the process is more transactional - you tell me what you want to be able to do or do better, and I tell you if I think I can help.
> I think that since OP is doubting the teacher, he/she may think
> that the teacher is picking up the material randomly.
> The teacher, however, may have a good idea about the needs of
> the OP.
>
> What would you do in a situation like that?
The OP and the teacher should have had some conversation about the OP's goals. There's no road map possible without knowing where you're trying to go. Then the teacher suggests some possible routes (materials, musical genres/styles the student finds interesting, practice techniques). There should be some level of agreement almost from the outset of an adult teacher-learner relationship. There shouldn't (IMO) be any kind of "black box" portion of the process. Both should have an idea of where the process is meant to lead and how it is meant to get there. There shouldn't be an authority-submissive element involved, even (IMO) in an adult teacher-child learner relationship, much less an all grown-up one.
The student can't come to a teacher and productively say "Please make my staccato better." The question really needs to be, "What do *I* need to change to make my staccato better?" The student/learner has to make (be open to making) the conscious changes. The teacher provides guidance and support. Both have a responsibility for making the changes possible.
In the OP's case, a serious (non-adversarial) conversation would still be worth having. If the teacher really has no plan and is unable to suggest any, then it may be time to look for another teacher. I think it's important for both to be consciously on the same path.
Karl
Post Edited (2024-05-17 20:20)
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Author: Julian ibiza
Date: 2024-05-17 20:07
I agree with Karl that the OP, or anyone in that position, really just needs to overcome their shyness, or any sense that it is inappropriate for them to express openly with their teacher regarding feelings, objectives and any doubts and questions they may have regarding their lessons and assignments. Failing that, naturally one tends to doubt and speculate..... sometimes that's never a good builder in any relationship.
Julian Griffiths
Tel. 34 696 798 853
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The Clarinet Pages
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