Nasty Habits - Teaching Yourself

"When the Student is ready, the Teacher will appear."

This Zen koan goes right to the heart of the learning process. As students engage with teachers at the beginning of a new semester, it's helpful to investigate how students can best ready themselves for learning and growth. Teachers can also take much wisdom from contemplating this statement.

You may wonder who or what is the Teacher referred to above! As with most pithy sayings like this, I suppose there's no single correct answer, but here are two that occur to me:

1. The "Teacher" is actually a state of mind that exists when the Student embarks on a journey towards learning, e.g., lesson, with a receptiveness, humility and eagerness to be inspired and to be changed by engaging with great works of music, guided by someone who is farther along on this journey than they are.

2. The "Teacher" is an actual teacher whose effectiveness is enhanced by the Student's receptiveness and preparation for learning.

There are certainly other possible interpretations, but these fit my purpose for this post.

Grouchy Old Man

I'm going to sound like a grouchy old man when I say that young musicians today have many more resources for learning than I did when growing up. After I was done with school came the explosion of the market for CDs, then came the internet and YouTube, etc. Students today are actually overwhelmed with choices when looking for musical sound or style to model.

Combine this with the obsession with testing in the schools and you have a generation that often seems confused and unable to think for itself. Teachers teaching to the test often feel pressure to take short cuts and provide answers for students instead of introducing ambiguity that might delay an answer but provoke deeper, more critical thinking.

I'm as guilty as anyone when it comes to "spoon-feeding." Indeed, there are often times when this is necessary -- fixing a reed for a student before an important audition instead of letting the student flounder while searching for themselves for the right solution, for instance.

However, I believe the old adage, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime", still holds true.

Sometimes, I'll challenge my students this way: "Make me really earn my pay by coming into the lesson so prepared and executing the material so convincingly that I scratch my head trying to come up with something to say."

If I have to point out wrong notes or spot something that a machine could register such as bad intonation or pulse, I'm not earning my pay and you're not getting your money's worth out of me!

Dan Silver, Professor of Clarinet at the University of Colorado shared the checklist below with me a long time ago. I think it's a great run-down of what must be taken into consideration when perfecting an etude, piece or excerpt.

In my experience, most students struggle to master the parameters of the "Fundamentals" section and grasp just a few things in the other sections in the practice between lessons. And that's in a good lesson!

 However, in a great performance, the listener is inspired by the performer's mastery of an interpretation. All the other areas must be mastered, but must remain invisible (or inaudible) to the listener. If any difficulty in these other areas becomes audible, the magic of the performance collapses like a house of cards!

Ideally, the weekly lesson should not consist wholly of spoon-feeding by the teacher or the student coming in with issues to the point such that the lesson is derailed. For at least part of an ideal lesson what is practiced is performing what has been learned during the week.

"Progress occurs between lessons." - Dan Stolper, oboist and teacher

Check this list before your next lesson. Challenge yourself to see how many of the areas listed you can master in the material you're learning. Share it with your students.

Musical Artistry              

Fundamentals

                       

·         Command of rhythm, pulse, ability to subdivide

·         Technical accuracy

·         Pattern recognition in reading music (scales, arpeggios, etc.)

·         Beauty of tone

·         Accurate intonation

·         Control of dynamics, large dynamic range

·         Control and variety of articulations

Finesse

·         Variety of tone color

·         Seamless legato 

·         Even passage work

·         Appropriate vibrato

Interpretation

·         Playing exactly what’s on the page first

·         Clarity of the aural concept (what does the inner ear hear?)

·         Sense of style

·         Points of tension and release in the musical line

·         Control of line, phrasing

·         Use of rubato, if appropriate

·         Knowing context of specific piece

·         Performance practice

                       

Physical and Mental

• Mastery of the "Inner Game"
• Body awareness and use
• Stage presence, presentation
• "X” Factor

Nasty Habits - Private Lessons

My teaching has started up for the fall semester. The beginning of each new school year marks a period of transition for student and teacher.

New students come in with fresh faces and ideas, looking to improve and adopt new habits. Each fall I spend a little time with my students planning the semester.

One way to get things off to a good start is to set goals and give guidelines for the semester. Most classroom teachers have a syllabus that includes policies governing attendance, grading, etc. Increasingly, the private lesson music teacher has adopted these, too.

At its best, a syllabus gives student and teacher clear guidelines for the progress of the semester. At very least it functions as a kind of contract between student and teacher covering grading policy, etc.

However, many teachers are uncomfortable with the imposition of legalistic guidelines upon the creative hour that is the private lesson. For the private lesson to be effective, there needs to be a great amount of trust between student and teacher.

Paradoxically, however, sometimes the trust is most easily established when the student knows that clear expectations and boundaries exist in the lesson format.

Setting up meaningful, clear objectives is one way to start out right. "Let's work on improving your intonation this semester." "Let's prepare for your degree recital."

In addition, I've found it helpful to post some points for my students to ponder as we get started for the semester. Here is a list from oboist, Elaine Douvas I've modified for my use.

How to get the best out of your teacher

You deserve to have my best effort -- my undivided attention for one hour per week; your progress and well-being should be the most important thing in the world for the one hour you are there. Unfortunately, a teacher cannot always give his best to each and every student, especially if he has many students, but you can be sure of getting that 100% effort if you always give your own best effort and do not make unnecessary extra work for me.

Consider the following:

1. Come on time; late arrivals show avoidance.

2. Don't warm up in your lesson. Schedule your lesson time such that there is time to warm up beforehand.

3. Help me stay organized; I keep a notebook of assignments but you must keep one yourself. At the beginning of the lesson, tell me everything you have practiced and hope to cover; remind me of what happened at the previous lesson. When you leave, find a place where you can spend a few minutes writing down helpful notes from the lesson.

4. Keep the energy level high: unpack quickly, don't waste time trying out 10 reeds, do not yawn. Additionally, don't waste the next person's time by taking too long to pack up.

5. Don't engage in too much small talk. Try to let me know that you have a great deal prepared and want to get through it.

6. For the teacher-student relationship to be most productive, there must be trust and respect for the assignments given and the material chosen by the teacher.

7. Meet me halfway in the lesson. The first part of your lesson is your performance for me of the work you've done that week. The second half is our chance to analyze and improve upon your playing.

8. Take initiative; do one or two things more than you were assigned.

9. Try to grasp things quickly; don't make me repeat things (a conductor only says things once!).

10. Have problems solved before each lesson; I get frustrated working on the same things with the same person week after week.

11. Don't be a "Space Cadet!" Don't leave things behind; it makes for unnecessary texts or phone calls and extra work for me.

12. If you need a recommendation letter, make it as easy as possible for me. Supply a link in an email to me or provide me with a self-addressed, stamped envelope for a hard copy.

13. Schedule your practice time as you do your classes. Treat them with the same discipline as you do your classes.

14. Plan your recitals when I can come, otherwise I may think that you don't value my opinion. Also, notify me of other performances I may want to hear to be able to help you better.

15. Go to my performances. Hearing me play gives meaning to the comments I make in your lessons. Also, go to the performances of your fellow students.

A Different Kind of Toscanini Broadcast!

Above is a cartoon that appeared in 1937 on the front page of one of Vienna's major newspapers, The Illustrated Kronenzeitung. In a whimsical mixing of disciplines it shows Richard Eybner, a famous Viennese actor at a microphone impersonating a famous Viennese sportscaster, Willy Schmieger.

The caption reads, "If Schmieger broadcast a Toscanini concert." Shown are Toscanani as referee in a soccer game (see his whistle!), with players, Hugo Burghauser (bassoon) and Arnold Rose (concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic) all in athletic gear with their instruments. A timpanist appears to be the keeper.

This cartoon is featured in Burghauser's book, "Symphonische Begegnungen"

What sort of cultural change would have to take place in the US -- or perhaps anywhere else but Vienna -- for a major newspaper to put something like this on its front page?

The closest thing I could think of is Peter Schickele's broadcast of Beethoven's 5th Symphony, with Bobby Corno on first horn.

Here's another blast from the past:

This is from a December, 1945 issue of the Saturday Evening Post. Inside is an article about Artur Rodzinski and the New York Philharmonic. William Polisi, Principal Bassoon, Manuel Zegler (misspelled in caption), Second Bassoon (Zeglar would later move up to Principal Bassoon) and Roberto Sensale, contra. In the second photo, the players are posed with their instruments over a chess board. More likely the game was poker and played without instruments present, with money on the table!

The Puppet Show, Bartholemew Fair by John Nixon, 1796 was recently purchased at an auction. This image was shared with me by conductor, Nic McGegan when he conducted us at Blossom this July..

I don't think the listener is too impressed with the bassoonist's playing!

Resources and reading

I wanted to share with you some pages I've found that provide good advice for musicians who travel (including a very helpful run-down of how to deal with the ivory bell issue), a fascinating listing of Henk de Wit's bassoon and art collection, and a biography of a prominent bassoonist from the Vienna Philhamonic's web archive.

Bassoonist, Joey Grimmer has constructed a website devoted to helping musicians who travel. It's a wonderful resource! In it he provides help with itineraries and other issues for the wandering musician. Especially pertinent for instrumentalists whose instruments contain ivory are his instructions for how to deal with US Fisheries and Wildlife officials, etc.

There are differing opinions on what to do with the ivory on your bell, however. Joey's and others' solution of grinding off the ivory and replacing it with a synthetic is just one solution.

Some who don't regularly travel outside of the US are taking a wait-and-see approach, assuming the regulations will either be relaxed for those with musical instruments or more judiciously enforced in the future.

Some repair technicians have had success removing the ivory ring intact and making a substitute. The ivory ring can be refit to the bell when playing in the US. Ken Potsic has had good success with this.

I have retained my ivory bell due to the luxury I have of being part of an organization that has excellent travel staff who have run interference with Customs and Fisheries and Wildlife. As long as I choose not to carry my bassoon with me if I deviate from the orchestra flight back into the US, I'm fine. If I go abroad with my bassoon without the orchestra, however, all bets are off.

Hugo Burghauser, bassoonist

I had lunch with Lenny Hindell, former Second Bassoonist of the New York Philharmonic, last week when we were in NYC for the Lincoln Center Festival. Lenny played a few years in the MET orchestra before joining the Philharmonic. The name Hugo Burghauser came up during our conversation. I knew that Burghauser was the dedicatee of Strauss' Duet Concertino, so I was interested to learn that he had also played in the MET and Lenny knew him.

When I got home I looked up any information about Burghauser I could find. His was a dramatic life. He was a very powerful man in the Vienna Philharmonic while its president and lost everything when Hitler annexed Austria in 1938.

I also searched the excellent Vienna Philharmonic digital archives for his name and found this. To read about Burghauser, scroll down about 2/3rds of the way and look for his name under the "Exile" section on the right. Click on his name and then click on the pdf. 11 pages from the archives give his story.

A rather different take on his political views from the one given on the h-net site above. I wonder which is closer to the truth?

One more for fun!  Please visit this virtual exhibit of the bassoon and art collection of the famous Dutch bassoonist, Henk de Wit.

Enjoy!

Inspiration and Discipline

I recently read the book, "Band of Brothers", by Stephen E. Ambrose about "Easy" Company and its progress during World War II from parachuting in prior to the D-Day landing in 1944 to the occupation of Hitler's "Eagle's Nest" at the end of the war. I also watched the acclaimed TV series adapted from the book.

The leader of Easy Company was Major Richard D. Winters. His training and discipline is outlined here in a post from the blog, "The Art of Manliness". I love the name of this blog!

Described here is the discipline and mental and physical preparation for sustained battle that he put himself through. While extreme, to say the least, it is certain that this training and a good deal of luck is what got Winters and his men through the D-Day landing, the Battle of the Bulge and many other major conflicts during World War II.

There is much food for thought in these paragraphs. Winters' single-minded, thorough devotion to physical and mental toughness says a lot about his character and maturity.

As musicians, we do not need to subject ourselves to this kind of asceticism, but perhaps there are methods here that can be adapted to our discipline as well.

The job market in the classical performing field is so tight, that a young player must adopt a serious and disciplined regimen for perfecting the art in order to succeed.

Read here about some things I chose to do while in music school in order to achieve success.

Nasty Habits -- Key Noise

As stated in a previous post, it's difficult to get a true picture of how you come across while playing.

The noise made by the mechanism of the bassoon can be very distracting. Sometimes the mechanism in general is noisy. Sometimes it's just one key. The loud clang of metal on metal when a particular note is fingered can be like hearing a piano with a key sticking!

Time spent going to a repair technician or dealing with the noise yourself can be viewed as time away from practicing.  With procrastination, the player can get used to the metallic sound.

I recall times when, after getting my instrument serviced, it seemed as if my sound were smaller due to the newly quieted mechanism. I had become so used to the noise that, to me, it seemed part of my sound!

Given the tough job market for musicians, it's wise to eliminate any aspects of your presentation that might detract from a positive impression. All things being equal -- accuracy, good intonation, good rhythm, musicality, etc., it could come down to a (stupid, yes) thing like a noisy mechanism, or other distraction.

In a day-to-day setting, listening to your clanging keywork can be annoying to colleagues around you!

So, do your colleagues a favor and get your bassoon to a repair technician or quiet it yourself!

In a previous post, my repair technician, Ken Potsic, recommended certain items to keep with you for on the job maintenance.

By the way, what's wrong with the photo above? Anyone want to venture a guess?

Nasty Habits -- Air Leaking

With this post, I'm starting a new series on a topic I'll call "Nasty Habits".

Much of this blog is devoted to advice for students and young professionals. It is with this in mind that I commence this series.

Embouchure Leaking

The task of playing an instrument well can be so all-encompassing that certain aspects of playing get ignored after a while. Often it takes a teacher or trusted colleague to point out lapses in your technique or notice when you've developed a bad habit.

It's nearly impossible for a bassoonist to hear how she REALLY sounds while playing. What sounds right to the player doesn't usually match up completely with what sounds right to the listener. Since we play for an audience (real or imagined), it is the listener's perspective that the player must keep in mind at all times.

One of the worst habits that some bassoonists develop is the audible leaking of air around the reed from the embouchure. When it becomes habitual, often the player stops noticing it completely!

Telling an otherwise great bassoon player that he is leaking is a bit like telling someone he has bad breath! There is the embarrassment of bringing it up, but usually, the person is glad you did!

I hope we can all agree that the sound of air leaking from the embouchure should not be part of a great bassoon sound!

Here is an article from my website which provides background to the problem and some solutions for plugging the leak.