My final comment on Teachers, before we put this to rest:
I certainly appreciate the feed-back I’ve gotten from Members, regarding my posts: “Teachers 1 and Teachers 2”.
Sometimes, when I post things, I know what I WANT to say, but it doesn’t always come out right in print.
The consensus of opinion is that it’s “O.K.” to have had four different teachers. And I guess the posts are suggesting that “you get four different perspectives” on how to play, and, thus a valuable insight. I don’t know that I can disagree with that dictum.
However, it is, after all, a matter of opinion. Well, if you’ll permit a poor analogy, it’s like going to four different doctors and getting four different opinions.
WHAT I MEANT TO SAY is that, based upon MY experience (and mine, only) is that: There is a differentia between teachers, in that some teachers wish to impose (their) style of playing on a student. (That’s IF they’re flutists). And many high-school band instructors are NOT.
I feel that this is grossly unfair in that, just as it is a VERY personal choice about just WHICH flute you buy --- it also holds that every flutist is an individual, whose artistic style should be recognized.
I never meant to suggest, for the record, that any student ignore scales, exercises and etudes. They’re very important --- especially for beginning students, as well as intermediate students --- and beyond. We all have to suffer through them --- just like any other musician has to.
What I’m taking issue with is the dichotomy that existed (in MY personal experience) between teachers --- and I said I had four. (And that’s correct.)
My four teachers were renowned teachers of the flute.
MY problem was that each successive teacher would renounce what I had been taught, previously. This leads to confusion and “information over-load”, (for those who are computer programmers).
In just whose judgment do you trust? Especially when (each one of them) is VERY accomplished and has attained “lofty” positions?
In closing, I think that every flutist brings an individual style and “voice” to the arena, which should not be ignored. I’d hate to live in a “flute world” wherein we all sound like James Galway. I APPRECIATE the differences in playing style that each flutist brings to us.
My four teachers were renowned teachers of the flute.
MY problem was that each successive teacher would renounce what I had been taught, previously. This leads to confusion and “information over-load”, (for those who are computer programmers
Keep in mind though, Jim, your level of playing while receiving suppossed conflicting advice. When first starting out, things have to be kept simpler, or taught to you in a way you can understand as a newcomer, then your skills are refined or adjusted completely, sometimes making the original advice seem incorrect.
The only example I can think of off the top of my head was first learning to play all the registers, I heard the good old phrase aim low for low notes and high for high notes. Well in later stages that's not necessarily true, especially when refining intonation. Then the low aims aren't so low anymore and the high aims aren't so high anymore. But if one was given the more advanced or refined instructions initially, one would probably become frustrated.
Another example I just thought of was flexibility. At first, moving the jaw around was used quite a bit. Then once I was able to do octave leaps quickly, I refined my skills. I learned to use my jaw less, and use the flexibility in my lips. But I couldn't start off with the more complex info first. I had to crawl before I could walk.
So, I could say I was taught faulty information, or one teacher seemed to contradict another, when really that wasn't the case. It was merely a matter of where I was in my playing while learning whatever particular skill.
I have had, of course, some wonderful teachers, but I have learned just as much from great string players, opera and pop singers and other wind players, especially in the realm of phrasing and breathing...one of my best teachers was a physical therapy coach who helped open up my breathing in a dramatic way and who taught me to relax my arms and shoulders...
I learn a lot just from listening to great performers, both on CD and live. For part of my school's music degree requirement, we have to attend at least 5 concerts a semester, which often are not flute related lol. But now I see why; I can learn just as much sometimes.
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