Aspire to Inspire

(This entry was commenced on the 31st of January, just to help avoid the confusion of some of the dates listed).

Not only is today the last day of January, but it is part of the last weekend that will cross over to February and commence the new teaching year for music. And before anyone jumps in, yes I do know that school started last week even though some of the higher powers might have said otherwise.
        This weekend I’ll be completing my final preparations for teaching. The major component of preparation has currently been for the clarinet choir that I will be running at the conservatorium this year. It’s not very often that a clarinet choir can be found, let alone established. In fact, if I was to locate the nearest clarinet ensemble I would have to travel to Armidale, or a bit further out to Tamworth. Resources have been difficult to come by, but this has been overcome with locating necessary pieces and organising arrangements of choral and piano works. The great thing about a clarinet ensemble is that it is incredibly flexible and versatile through tone, musicianship, and the different roles made available. You can listen to the ensemble as a group of clarinets, but they can also function like a vocal choir crossing several ranges, as an organ with their overwhelming sound and open tone, as a stringed instrument (similar to the role played in concert bands and wind orchestras), and even as a piano with each instrument making up a digit of the pianist’s hands. There is a motto I’ve always enjoyed using with clarinet students; “If you play the clarinet, you can do anything!” I think this is quite true.

Word of the Month for January!

in⋅spi⋅ra⋅tion [in-spuh-rey-shuh n]
–noun

Inspire
Inspiration

If there was going to be a word I heard with sufficient emphasis placed on it, it would have to be the word “inspiration”. It was a word I heard or read every now and then. Whether it was through conversations with students, past and fellow musicians, hard at work at the workshop, or mentioned through the media, this word continually provoked my attention. Why was this?
        If I had someone walk up to me and ask why the mid-north coast was suffering in music in general, the first word that would come to mind is “inspiration”. It makes a lot of sense as well with feedback and discussions with students studying and instrument, especially the more advanced students. Inspiration may have thought to have been caused by a glowing personality and an incredible talent to play an instrument or to perform. I think that is certainly influential to encourage someone to develop an interest in taking up music, but it is not the driving force to have them further their studies or interest in playing. We do have some very good music tutors in this region and neighbouring towns, but there aren’t very many that could be described as “inspirational”.
        My challenge is this; how much are you willing to do to support your students, no matter what level of playing they are up to? It’s very easy to support the advanced students because they are the “crème de la crème”, but how much information and sources are willing to pass on? And this is a very similar case with beginner students as well in terms of music, resources, and methods of teaching. I completed my first stint of music tuition in a school last year since 2002, and the challenges I found were retaining students and keeping students interested/motivated. Something I have noticed with schools over the years, in terms of music programs, is that you will have teachers or co-ordinators of programs that will seek to retain students or seek to push quality.



It is a very tough situation since you want so many students involved, yet you need the group to develop and grow musically. Plus you throw in time constraints, factoring in how many students there are, resources (which are usually very limited with school budgets and copyright laws), and even travel time for some tutors.

I believe, as tutors, we need to “aspire to inspire”. We are to have the ambition and desire to enlighten and influence. No longer is it about “winging it” or trying to teach on the cheap side. Universities will lecture through their teaching degrees that the best course of teaching for students is to set up an Individual Education Program (IEP). While this may not always be feasible in school education systems due to the size of some classes or subjects undertaken, it is the ideal opportunity for people that tutor outside of school classes. Students realise the effort we are putting in for them when we spend our resources of time, money, travel, expertise, planning, and most importantly patience. Students do feel a lot more valued when we develop an interest in their learning and progress, and they will (most of the time) display this to us. I can’t find anything more refreshing than an eager young musician running over to their music lesson location, setting up their instrument quickly and saying how they can do something new and they want to show us straight away, or perhaps accomplish something that they were struggling with before. If the students feel they are experiencing success and enjoyment, then hopefully the parents/guardians do the same for their child. What I have discovered and experienced over the time invested in teaching and learning is that a student will only put in as much effort with their studies as we put in to construct their learning. At times it can even be like watering a plant; give it little nourishment and it will starve and lose interest to grow, yet absolutely flood it with water and it may become overwhelmed. It is rare for the latter to occur, but often music tutors can be guilty (and I have been one to do this before) of not giving their student enough to progress with and stunting the growth of their musical talent and ability. This is why I stress that we need to take the time to construct and do more on our part to set up a learning program for children taking on music.

Aspire to Inspire, this is my challenge for 2009.