Posted by Mr. Know-It-All? on February 20, 2004 at 23:52:55:
In Reply to: Importance of learning scales posted by Rob McGray on February 20, 2004 at 23:16:37:
If you have all the answers, Rob, by all means quit school and become a band director!
If you don't, follow this advice: You'll learn a lot more when your mouth is shut.
"Knowing all the notes" and having the instantaneous ability to play every one in any key signature without thinking about it are two very different things. The "any note, any key" process needs to be practiced until it becomes a background function (the computer level of the brain, as Arnold Jacobs says). Then you can concentrate on the SONG. If your woodwinds are having difficulty with their parts they'll advance more rapidly as they master the scales your director is having you practice. They'll be able to play "Prelude, Siciliano and Rondo" and anything else that comes their way.
FOCUS. Give this lesson your full attention and lose the "second guessing the director" attitude.
And I don't need a PhD to tell you so.........sheeeeesh!