Posted by Dave Seip on March 12, 2000 at 23:47:28:
In Reply to: solo philosophy posted by Steve Dedman on March 12, 2000 at 16:56:07:
I have been playing advanced pieces for quite some time now. Last year, I started learning the first movement of the Vaughan Williams in August, and performed it in February at solo/ensemble contest. I felt I did well (not to brag, but I got a perfect score), but I knew I could still work on it. I still work on it and other solos today, because there is always something to fix, some new nuance in the music to change or enhance. While visiting colleges, I took a lesson from one of my potential tuba teachers, and learned a lot more about the Vaughan Williams, not only technically, but musically. He did not tell me that I was wasting my time and I should play things that were easier for me or more within my grasp. I have heard of some college professors refusing to allow their students to play the Vaughan Williams (not just perform, but even look at it) because they considered it too hard. I think we need to encourage younger musicians to expand their musical range by looking at challenging music, and helping them learn how to play it and help them learn interpretation. If I hadn't started learning the Vaughan Williams and the Gregson, I would have been playing old war-horse tuba solos all the time, and I would not be as good in both technique and interpretation as I am now. I thank my tuba teacher for challenging me to take them on, because if I'd just been handed them with no encouragement from him, I would have probably taken one look at them and said, "That's never going to happen." Instead of not letting younger players take on the challenging pieces, help them out, and they will do much better. Plenty of practice time is necessary, of course, but I know that when I finish performing a solo I have worked on for a long time and I know I have done well, I am glad for all the effort put into it. I'm sure all other players out there will agree on that.