Author: Katelyn
Date: 2007-07-24 01:56
I'm all too familiar with the fear of failure. I think kids in general nowadays are far too concerned with meeting the requirements, accomplishing things and being the best merely for the sake of getting the grade. I see a tendency to cheat in my fellow honors and advanced placement students than in my 'average' friends.
I do believe that there is hope, though. Our whole high school band votes in deciding who wins chair challenges (our director used them as an opportunity for us to learn and analyze how pieces should or should not be played, argue whether notes or rhythms are most important, etc). To make a long and dramatic rivalry short, the band chose a more musical and artistic version of a piece over what was obviously a mere show of technical prowess. The loser was obviously a better player than the winner, but had made the piece sound robotic. Despite his stammered arguments of the piece being "not a musical expression but a technical excercise meant to improve speed and accuracy!" he had to wait the standard two weeks to challenge back.
I think as long as we have good teachers trying to impress the goal of musicianship, instead one of merely playing "higher faster louder" (the unofficial motto of my clarinet section), we'll still be churning out real musicians to keep the music alive for the next generation.
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The Clarinet BBoard
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