Posted by Steve W on December 17, 2001 at 17:00:35:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Decisions...Decisions...Decisions... posted by Rick Denney on December 17, 2001 at 14:46:42:
Rick, I should clarify that this was one director out of XXXX in the state. He is very old school (proud of it, too) and the best explanation was that's the way it is in his program and he's not about to change and listen to some youngin' tell him how to run his program. Most the directors in TX (and other states) are super educators and want the best for their students and their program; however, not allowing a student to play a mouthpiece that works best or not having a student play a better instrument than the school owns is overkill. In our community band, we have eight tuba players with eight different instruments and two different keys. Musicianship takes over to make balance, blend, and intonation work not everybody on the same instrument with the same mouthpiece in any situation. Like Ken, if I had a student fighting his instrument or mouthpiece, I would recommend a change to help that student become a better player instead of having a mouthpiece that's too small or a reed that's too soft because everybody else has the same. If I don't, I'll probably loose a student because they don't enjoy playing or their not being challenged. I should also say that I've never been in a teaching situation where I've had the luxury of demanding the students get one brand of instrument and one type of mouthpiece. In a small school and no private teacher's in the area, if a kid had an instrument in playing condition and was willing to learn, I was a happy camper and ready to teach.