Hi, I gotta go with this side of the camp. I see no logical reason why a beginner shouldn't start on a double. Nor would I prefer to tell a beginner that they should start on trumpet and then switch to the horn in a few years. I seriously doubt that an 11yo is going to understand the logic behind such a request...all they know is that they want to play the horn, and someone is telling them they can't. What better way to set a kid up to fail?
Same goes with oboes and bassoons. While I'm at it...what qualities do I look for in a kid that wants to play the horn? That's it right there. They want to play the horn. Whether or not the kid continues to play the horn, is good at it, wants to be a pro, or just plays for the hell of it is up to the kid. Part of your job as a teacher is to ensure that the kid is responsible for learning the horn. Don't EVER tell a beginner that the horn is the hardest instrument to play. Who cares? I really don't believe that the horn is any harder than any other instrument. Sure, horn players may make more mistakes per capita than other instruments (at least the critics pounce on horn players more than others...see Chapter One of Tuckwell's book: The Horn Player Missed A Note), but should this be a deterrent at a young and impressionable age? I think not. I was told from the word go that the horn was hard. Once I got it through the Kevlar enclosing my Brain Housing Group that it wasn't any harder than anything else, I improved. I would also add that if you are constantly drilling scales to a beginner, you're going to burn them out in a big hurry. Yes, scales are important at the beginning, but you must also understand that the reason a kid wants to learn an instrument is because they want to learn to play songs. So while you're assigning scales, teach them to play simple little songs like Mary Had A Little Lamb, and teach it to them without music. Have them push the right buttons and reproduce the right notes. Don't get too wrapped around the axle about tone quality; that's something that will develop over a period of years. Accuracy is more important than tone at the beginning; the child is going to want to play the right notes first. That kid's parent(s) will think you are the greatest teacher in the world when you send them home after the first lesson having learned a song, and that will be one hell of a happy kid, and the parent(s) will believe that their money is being well-spent, especially when you raise your rates. Teaching children is not about creating the next (insert your favorite horn-god's name here). It's about giving a child the opportunity to learn to create something enjoyable in a world that is obsessed with destruction. You're not just a horn teacher, you are a music teacher, and to teach youngins the joy of music is what all this smoke-filled, coffee-house, under-funded, non-existent National Endowment for the Arts crap is all about. Then you can hit them over the head with Kopprasch. Gary Get Firefox!!http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/central.html _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
