Performance Tip #10

Play at least one rehearsal in your performance dress.

Performance Tip #9

If you tape your music “accordion style”, you’ll treat the audience to a song and a floor show.

Plato and Compulsory Education

I really shouldn't be thinking about these kinds of concepts the week before finals' week, but I read this earlier this semester and I've been thinking about it ever since.

From The Republic by Plato (536d,e):

"...though we mustn't exercise any form of compulsion in our teaching."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because a free man ought not to learn anything under duress. Compulsory physical exercise does no harm to the body, but compulsory learning never sticks in the mind."

I don't necessarily agree with Plato, but I think he comes down on one side of an issue that, if you take a step back, raises the fundamental question to all education. Namely, the role of enforcement in teaching. I'm really intrigued by this concept.

But back to study.

Vocabulary Cards and Caffeine

Greetings!

Between various kinds of caffeinated beverages, lists of vocabulary and paradigms, and stacks of books that would easily intimidate the late Alexandrian scholars, there hasn't been much time to post an update for you, our dear readers.

In spite of all my efforts to the contrary, the calloused passage of time has been flinging me towards finals week with little regard for my internal sense of preparation. Thankfully, my load is quite a bit lighter than a lot of my peers. Just two comprehensive exams and a final paper. So I'm in good shape.

In the mean time, my students have been working very diligently as they prepare for the close of the semester. Is it just me or does Summer Breaks come at the worst possible time? It seems like we just make it over a major hurtle and then it's time to stop. Of course, all my serious students are taking through the summer, but still, I have no kind things to say about breaks.

The reason I bring this up is because this last week, most of my students played the best they've played all semester. I couldn't be happier. They probably don't realize that they're collective accomplishment has seriously up-ed the ante for summer and fall. Since I won't have college class laying siege to my every waking and hour (and beyond). I'll have a lot more time to dedicate to program/curriculum development. I've been teasing some very interesting ideas and approaches during this last school year and I can hardly wait to see what they look and on paper and then, God willing, in practice. There are some great new challenges on the horizon.

Some exciting family news: our sister, Michelle, is engaged! We're all very happy for her and her fiance. She told us this morning that the wedding is in 70 days. But, thank goodness, all the plans are coming together without much of a hitch --well, I guess I should say, in hopes of an stress-free hitch. Of course, it helps to be in the wedding/special event business.

Also, Josh just returned from a visit to his future Alma Mater, the University of Missouri--St. Louise. He'll have to tell you about that trip himself.

Elizabeth is back on the conference circuit. Her latest stop has been Texas.

Eric and Justin are joining me in the "finals cram". Nothing new to report.

That's the news from here. We'll be back to regular blogging as soon as the academic dust settles. Have a great weekend!

-David for the others.

Performance Tip #8

Pack and an extra for you and and an extra for everyone else.

Performance Tip #7

White Dress Shirts + Food = Disaster

Performance Tip #6

Never turn your back to the audience. But if you insist, do not bend over.

Performance Tip #5

Let the back of your leg touch the edge of the seat before you commit yourself.

Performance Tip #4

If your instrument case feels extraordinarily light, follow your gut.

Taking Responsibility for Their Own Environment

There are moment in my playing, or when I’m listening to others, that I sit back and ask, “Who’s in charge here?” The poor musician seems chained to the music stand, eyes unblinking under a furrowed brow, as they desperately grasp after the phrase. The problem is that the player is chasing the music rather than leading it.

Most of the time, this is symptomatic of an over-ambitious tempo. But there's another, more subliminal issue: we do not understand our role as a musician.

Music was written for us, we were not made for the music. So often the servants of our circumstances --heeding the bidding of our academic masters-- that we, as students, tend to assume the master/slave relationship of our youth is also the relationship between ourselves and our music (music that is usually assigned to us rather than picked by us). Therefore we humbly genuflect before our piece, graciously beseeching it to “go easy”. Then we start and it’s off to the races.

The bigger problem in this common scenario is that the we're not in control of our environment. We need to learn how to reign in the music’s perceived authoritarianism. That takes time. But in order to develop that confidence in my students, I’ve been engaging in a little experiment.

I don’t know if any of them have noticed, by I’ve been placing the music stand on the wrong side of my student at every lesson for a little over a month. For those of you non-musicians: when a musician plays, they need to face their audience, which means the music stand needs to be on their left. So I have purposefully placed the stand on their right side before they come into the room. My goal for this has been to see which of my students are willing to take take ownership (read: responsibility) of their environment and which of my students just take the environment as it comes.

It’s been fun to watch their reaction. Some will waltz up, grab the stand and move it to where it’s comfortable. Others (especially the younger students) will just put their books on the stand and hardly notice until I ask them to move it.

My goal, eventually, is that all of my students will get into the habit of quickly adjusting their environment until it’s comfortable. It’s a small thing, but a start.