Valerie, My teacher, Tom Bacon, was VERY demanding with me, and I teach the same way. One can be demanding, but can insure that their students are having an enjoyable experience. That is exactly how I teach! I tell my students right from the first lesson that I will be demanding, but I also tell them that if they are not having fun, that they had better tell me, as horn playing should an enjoyable experience! I only wish that I had worked harder when under Tom's tutelage! Now as a man that is nearly 60 years old, that if I had worked harder and had believed in myself and abilities, that I could have gone much farther in the world of performance than I did. Do you know how those shoulda, woulda coulda's are like?
I had former a student that returned from a prestigious summer music camp, and she insisted on getting to a lesson just as soon as she could. I asked her the question, "You've just been to (name deleted as not to insult the instructor that still is teaching there) and have studied horn with one of the world's finest hornists, why do you feel you just have to have a lesson with me?" She replied, "Every time I would play something for him, he'd reply, That's great. She then said, Every time I play something for you, you can find something to constructively critique my playing and make me a better hornist". Moral of the story, she recently won her first audition. After me, she studied with Lin Foulk and Randy Gardner and won the Principal horn of the Beijing Central Opera Orchestra, and will be moving this month. Lin and Randy did most of the work with her, but she got a good foundation with me... The young man is quite good, but isn't it a teacher's job to point out deficiencies and improve on and critique what is good, but with the proper words (from the teacher) can be much better? I know that is how everyone I studied with was with me, and that is exactly how I work with my students. If what I wrote sounds like I'm not caring, that is NOT the case at all. If I sound like I'm jealous of his ability at his age, I assure you, I didn't mean to be cruel in my observations of what I heard from his performance, only objective. I tend to think like Jaime Escalante, "students will rise to the level of the expectation of the teacher" It is our jobs as teachers to get them to be the absolute best they can be, and we need to work harder at our craft than the students, because we have an awesome responsibility. Stepping off of my soapbox, Walt Lewis --- On Tue, 3/8/11, valerie wells <[email protected]> wrote: From: valerie wells <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Hornlist] Take a wild guess! To: "horn list 2 memphis" <[email protected]> Date: Tuesday, March 8, 2011, 11:13 PM I sincerely appreciate Sandra's comment which shows a level of caring and experience some seem to lack. Valerie Message: 4 Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2011 15:40:49 -0500 From: "Sandra Clark" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Hornlist] Take a wild guess! To: <[email protected]>, "'The Horn List'" <[email protected]> Message-ID: <001001cbdd07$f2165310$d642f930$@net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I won't guess equipment either...but after hearing the first half of the first movement, I've got to say, there are quite a few here polishing their egos on the back of this obviously talented high school player. I couldn't hold a candle to this kid when I was in high school...and I think that despite the easily observed places for improvement, he does well. Sandra Toledo, Ohio -- Valerie Wells The Balanced Embouchure Method http://bebabe.wordpress.com/ http://www.beforhorn.blogspot.com/ _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/lewhorn9%40yahoo.com _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
