Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: German F theories


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Posted by Jay Bertolet on August 30, 2001 at 11:35:07:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: German F theories posted by j somewhat argumentative/inflammatory this time s on August 30, 2001 at 01:47:43:

No, no, no, no!!! ;-)

So what do we do now? Since it is "so hard" to get a playing gig, we should not focus students on the skills necessary to get that job? That seems a little backwards to me.

Maybe I should have been a little more clear in my statements. I am assuming in my position that the the student in question really has the burning desire to play in the ensemble as a career. Matt G. makes an excellent point in saying that could be any kind of ensemble, be it quintet, orchestral, or band. Even dixie/traditional jazz qualifies in my book but, of course, there is a whole other realm of issues to deal with in training to be an effective player in that type of ensemble. To be honest, in my years of teaching I have only had one student say to me that they really wanted to pursue jazz as a career. I guess in my neck of the woods, jazz is not something tubas players dream of doing with their life.

I won't disagree that the numbers of performance students being trained and degreed by the educational institutions of this country far exceeds the number of available jobs. Doesn't that make the field very competitive? Doesn't that mean prospective auditioners had better have their ensemble skills polished incredibly well to have any prospects of success? Isn't that the kind of environment where any edge might make the difference?

During my playing career, I've seen some really amazing players try and make a go of the solo career. They were/are all brilliant players. And all of them, to my knowledge, had to establish an additional way to make a living because the solo gig was not enough. My teachers always approached solo playing as a means to an end. Solos teach us about musicality, something every good player needs in abundance. The key is to transfer that musicality into the ensemble playing. But you still need the ensemble skills to be an effective ensemble player. These skills require practice, just like any other skill. I don't think it is a coincidence that many auditions end up with the finalists playing with a section to see how the applicant functions within the ensemble.

You KNOW I'd rather pay to hear a sterling rendition of the Ride rather than a mediocre version of the Haddad! The problem is that there are literally hundreds of mediocre Haddad's available but finding a sterling rendition of the Ride? Very hard to come by. Maybe the Ride (as well as many other orchestral excerpts) really aren't as easy to play as some people seem to think.

My opinion for what it's worth...


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