Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Should I use CC for Band?


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Posted by dp on July 16, 2001 at 20:50:07:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Should I use CC for Band? posted by From Parts Unknown on July 16, 2001 at 17:52:09:

Tracy is very balanced in her attitude. For her the field band choice is a great one,
as it is probably for 99 of every 100 high-school readers out there.

I hate to say it though unless we are prepared to discourage those other, 1-out-of-a-hundred-individuals from chasing the highly-competitive audition scene where they are competing for one of very few jobs, you HAVE to acknowledge that an individual who wants to pursue that 10-20 hours a week developing the chops to compete for even a chance to audition will really need that time on their axe, focussing on their own playing. As great as a good band is on the field as a unit, NO ONE ELSE will be able to play The Ride, Fantastisque, Petrouscka or even Tubby for that one student. I KNOW how important and valuable the band experience is for almost every student who ever tooted a fight song, but it is NOT any more important than encouraging a student who may have better than a snowball's chance in hell at being the next Norm P. or Floyd C. or Sumner E. or ANY of the other principal tubists who won their chair in their early-mid 20's.

One of the threads we seldom address here is actually what it takes to be a pro on the tuba. Apparently my suggestion that a motivated student consider not marching is unpopular. Equally unpopular would be even the HINT that pursuit of a professional playing career on tuba is hopeless. It would be interesting if we took the top two orchestras in every state, and polled their tuba players, what would we find as to their experience with marching, if they did it what they feel they got out of it, and if they didn't what they feel they missed. Would that experience compare it to what they get out of their current gig? These questions would talk about value to a serious PERFORMANCE student.

My feeling is that if we are not careful we will lock-step discourage to some extent their pursuit of a career. It is a tough tough consideration, but as other responses have pointed out far too few of the current crop of band directors have the type of understanding it takes to encourage a budding symphonic tubist. That SHOULD be at least a part of what THIS resource BBS is about. But when we chose to knowingly sacrific a diamond-in-the-rough player for the sake of the ensemble, its not education, it's and its not even pragmatism. It is refusing to see that sometimes it takes MORE work to educate than simply expecting the group to comply. Glad to know that for most of us it is ok to disagree, still...
"oh brave new world, with such as these in it...."


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