2006 Edition 2 (Issue 144) - Sasmt-savmo.org.za

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An emphasis on performance Combining a parent’s ignorance and a teacher’s misconceptions can result in some bizarre ideas about a specific child’s musical development. ‘Why do people go to recitals? Partly to be amazed by the pole vaulting, but also because they hope the performer will break their heart.’ (A concert pianist, London: December 2001) ‘But if my children were encouraged to use their imagination and intellect, surely it would take them longer to get through their music grades?’ (A parent, Oxford: December 2001) A problem Performance can be wonderful. But it is also much misunderstood. The pianist reminds us of the impact – magic even – of live music performance. He speaks of western classical music that is played at recitals, but what he says could apply to almost any music. He is talking about aspects of performance that come partly from what a composer has written, and partly from what a performer has done to bring the writing alive, but his message could apply also where the performer is the composer as well, where the music has never been written down, or where music is improvised by one or more musicians. A performance can amaze us and move us. How better to give this to children than by teaching them to be performers? And students who opt to take instrumental lessons are saying that they want a taste of this, a chance to do more performing of a particular type than they would do otherwise. The parent reminds us of what can go wrong when the matter of ‘teaching children to be performers’ is misunderstood. He sees examination certificates, rather than performances, as the goal of performance training, and limits his view of the process that his offspring should go through accordingly. He sees the instrumental lesson as something that should help his children assemble what they need to the standard required by examiners, and the use of their imagination or intellect as fripperies that would slow this down. I think that it would also be safe to say that he sees performance as something that relates only to western classical music. My conversation with this parent followed the broad drift of many conversations with other parents over the years. On learning that I work in music, the parent had told me that one of his children was not hurling through Janet Mills her grades at quite the dizzying speed of the others because she spends some of her practice time on improvisation. What could he, as a parent who is interested in music but, in his view, not musical, do about this? The piano teacher had suggested that his daughter was not as musical as his, more focused, other children — and had hinted that she should give up lessons — but the parent would like her to carry on, at least for a while, even if she was not going to reach the high standards of her brothers. As usual in such conversations, I observed that it is healthy and musical to want to apply one’s new musical skills imaginatively and intelligently, and that perhaps the piano teacher could be urged to capitalize on these strengths of his daughter’s approach. Perhaps the parent raised this thought with the piano teacher and she took some action; perhaps he didn’t or she didn’t. Whatever the outcome, at the time of our conversation, the parent – and possibly also the piano teacher – shared some misconceptions about performance and how it is made. Even within the realm of western classical music, the re-creation that is performance requires much more than the ability to play the right notes in the right order. Performances that are not quite note-perfect may occasionally be preferred to ones that are, if the trade-off is a higher degree of expression and communication. Performers find ways of playing pieces that make sense, and which communicate much more than a string of notes to their audience. To do this, they draw on resources that are not found on the printed score, and which they develop through intellectual and imaginative engagement with music, and through experience. It is never too early to start to develop and build upon a student’s intellectual and imaginative engagement with music. When we watch a young child at play with musical — or sound-making — materials, we can see that this engagement comes naturally. Children frequently focus intently as they experiment with different ways of making sounds, different ways of making different sounds, different ways of assembling sounds into patterns of motifs, and as they try to repeat or re-create sounds, patterns, or motifs that they made earlier. This natural engagement can be drawn into education, and developed through composing, listening, and musical approaches to performing. Instrumental teaching that is no more than repetitive drill or that consists, in effect, of a list of instructions to follow, switches it off. Reproduced from Music in the School by permission of Oxford University Press (www.oup.com). ISBN 0-19-322300-7 0 Suid-Afrikaanse Musiek Onderwyser |144 | November 2006
e s o u r c e s ~ b r o n n e South African Music Teacher |144 | November 2006 ABRSM Publishing The publishing company of The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music publishes material to be used in all its graded exams. New editions of the Selected Piano Exam Pieces and Selected Violin Exam Pieces are produced every 2-3 years in line with the relevant syllabus. Other titles produced in support of the exams include books of scales and sight-reading practice tests for all instruments and examplar CD recordings of exam set pieces, as well as theory workbooks (the Music Theory in Practice series). Jazz books and CDs are available for Piano, Flute, Clarinet, Saxophone, Trumpet and Trombone, and includes books with jazz tunes and Real Books, and a selection of scales, aural tests and quick studies books. Repertoire albums are also available — major works of J S Bach, the piano sonatas of Mozart and Beethoven, and much of the most popular repertoire of Chopin, Schubert, Brahms and Schumann are available in first-rate practical editions. They have a wide range of educational books for use in private study, personal music development and to help students prepare for exams, such as textbooks, books on music theory, harmony and form of music, guides and handbooks on subjects as diverse as jazz, performance practice and teaching, and a series for children on the lives of the great composers. The catalogue also contains books specifically for teachers. ABRSM Publishing titles are widely available from music retailers in South Africa. In case of difficulty contact: r e v i e w s ~ r e s e n s i e s Universal Edition offers a series called Children on Stage — Bühne frei für Kinder. With these attractive and fun-filled arrangements a teacher can turn the ordinary school concert into a musical delight. All the parts — also the piano part — are easy, and the instrumentation can be varied: two melody lines, piano, cello (or double bass or bassoon) and percussion. Composers included are Saint-Saëns, Grieg, Mozart, Humperdinck. Janáček, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Debussy. www.universaledition.com publishing@abrsm.ac.uk www.abrsmpublishing.com Another interesting series for children by Universal Edition: World Music Junior. Richard Graf has selected some of the most beautiful Christmas songs from around the world and presented them in playerfriendly, easy arrangements. The lyrics for the familiar and less familiar songs are included, and the information on the origins of the songs and the customs of the of the countries makes this a useful resource for school teachers. The series includes piano and guitar solos (in staff notation and tablature), play-along scores and CDs for flute, violin and saxophone (the pieces in full as well as backing tracks), and an ensemble anthology with flexible arrangements and a CD with full versions and play-along tracks. www.universaledition.com
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2006 Edition 2 (Issue 144) - Sasmt-savmo.org.za

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