Posted by Jay Bertolet on March 12, 2000 at 18:07:01:
In Reply to: solo philosophy posted by Steve Dedman on March 12, 2000 at 16:56:07:
I agree that a student shouldn't attempt to perform music that is beyond their grasp, either technically or musically. But I feel it is a different matter when speaking about practicing such music. My teachers used solo literature as a means to expand my musical thinking. I worked on many solos during my school years and performed only a small fraction of them. To be honest, I now consider that approach not as effective as using etudes to work on the fundamentals. Thankfully, my teachers didn't force me to become cookie cutter images of themselves! By the time I hit college, I was ready to start working seriously on the really major solo repertoire in an attempt to build a recital program and establish audition solos. These days, I go the other route which is to teach fundamentals and musical growth with specific etudes (are there any pieces of music more expressive than the Rochut/Bordogni etudes?) and then focus on the specific solo repertoire that the student can use to best effect.
That said, I hear plenty of juries where students play pieces that are obviously beyond them. I find this exceptionally annoying! Whenever this happens, I ask the teacher of the student why he allowed the student to play such a work. The answer usually is "because the student wanted to". I can't imagine how this approach works but, if the student and teacher are comforable with it, who am I to say otherwise? I teach my students that intention is not as important as content. I would much rather hear a major scale executed flawlessly than Carnival of Venice with half the notes missing. In my experience, adjudicators are much more impressed by accuracy than speed.
But for practice, I say go for it! Roger Bobo once told me that if you want to be comfortable playing high notes, you should practice higher notes (paraphrase). He meant that the best improvement comes from pushing the envelope and I agree with this. That is why I have expanded the number and range of scales I use in my daily routine. The more I expand my capabilities, the easier the extremes seem. I started working on the Kraft in high school. I worked on the VW as well. As a sophomore in college, I got a copy of the Penderecki. But I wasn't performing any of this music until much later, in most cases many years later. I believe this helped stretch my musical and technical skills. And it wasn't until I lived a bit more that I appreciated these works. And I continue to grow with these works as well. I find that even well known works always surprise me with something new when I pick them up again. Maybe that's why I'm not an internationally acclaimed soloist! ;-)
My opinion for what its worth...