Posted by Ken Herrick on June 12, 2002 at 02:43:06:
In Reply to: Pushing the envelope posted by David on June 12, 2002 at 01:03:10:
BRAVO!!!!!!
Congratulations on one of the most sensible posts I have seen here. I am sure Harvey and Jake would both totally agree with you. In fact it was not long ago that Harvey was saying to me " ...there are a lot of young players out there now who can cover all the notes, but still very few real musicians playing tuba".
Admittedly Roger Bobo was able to cover the Vaughn Williams while still in high school and as I recall won the concerto contest at Interlochen doing it and was virtually drafted straight into Eastman on the basis of being heard practicing in the hut behind the bowl. Roger, however was a one in a million type, a "protege" who probably would have made it on fiddle had that been his instrument.
If a high school player managed to master the Kopprasch bk 1, Air and Bouree, and a few other decent, musical solos and had their scales M&m and arpeggios covered they would have a very good solid foundation laid. (Assuming they had the breathing and sound quality basics under control) To any player aspiring to continue music at university level they would be very wise to learn some basic piano, get some good ear traing, do as much solfege and sight singing as possible and learn some basic theory.
Did I hear laughing and oh no, not that boring junk???? Let me give fair warning. When you hit university you will HAVE to get those things under your belt or you won't be in a practice room at uni for long.....you will be out in the cruel, cold, real world doing something you REALLY hate.
The sooner these elements of musicianship and musical study are worked on the better. Do a lot of listening to simple SONG and then learn how to perform those songs from the head and "heart". Great performance is done by mastering the simple elements one at a time and playing one great note after the other. Learning all the rudiments of music will make for a better all-round musician than just trying to cover more repertoire at a mediocre level.
Oh yes, take time to learn about yourself and other people and whatever, don't forget to learn how to have a good laugh. I could not try to count the number of times Jake and Harvey BOTH told me "RELAX and LAUGH".