$75 a week! How many hours of instruction do they get? I teach HS and younger for free at my home. Some of them can't even afford a horn so I give them refurbished ex-school single F's to play on. Most parents take interest, which I agree is a good idea, and some don't. Some would if they had more time but they are struggling to make a living and just get by. Once in a while, there's a real problem, like substance abuse or domestic violence. If the kid needs parenting, I advise where I can. I saw Bjork on SNL and she stinks. Her band wasn't very good, either. Just a bunch of garbage that's all been said before presented in a gimmicky way. The all-girl brass section sounded like they had just finished Tune-a-Day book 1. Would you really rather go to her show than play the Brandenburg or did I just misunderstand what you wrote? KB In a message dated 5/1/2007 2:30:43 AM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
I find the same thing here in Colorado Howard. 85% are doing it for their parent unit, nothing really wrong with that, but the commitment level is not too high sometimes. This lack of commitment is not fun to teach. Here is how I solve this. I teach from a very positive slant, IE. life lessons through Horn-ed, more specifically, learning how the fragile adolescent mind works learning the horn ( mostly how their OWN mind works). With my young students the PARENTS have to commit to the lessons. They are required to be at all the lessons and take notes. This is a Suzuki method and I like the results. I don't like wasting my time and I would rather chop wood than teach a student that does not want to be there. The parents get the idea quick and will pull out of the 75USD a week if their kid cannot play the first etude after 6 weeks. I don't generally have to fire any students and this method works really well. In general, music is a good training for other professions. There is no reason to turn anyone away if they are not going to be a professional. At least in my university position non-music majors really want to be in my lessons!! My top non-music major performed the Hindemith Sonata with piano today in our group brass class. He played great and worked very hard. Ok, flipping though TV tonight, the band Arctic Monkeys are playing tonight. They went triple Platinum in like 3 hours when their album came out. I like the band! I really want to see Bjork when she comes to Red Rocks....I have a Brandenburg that night.... Jeez....I hope Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms goes Platinum....!!! It deserves a couple. Matthew Scheffelman ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
