Do The Work

21. February 2012 · 1 comment · Categories: Grumble, Yahoo! Answers

Read online:

I need a full report on the history of the english horn?

Could i get a full report on the history of the english horn, i need it for music class, 7th grade…. THANKS FOR ANY HELP!!!

Read here.

As you might guess, I absolutely love browsing the web. I love that there is so much information available. I love the things I discover, the new (sometimes very old) music I learn about and hear, and the people I meet. But it also makes me a bit sad. This student above wants someone else to do the research. Earlier I read a page where a college freshman is asking for money because, “You all know how expensive being a musician is and I need to repair my oboe and I want to buy a new oboe and maybe even an English horn.”

Um … sometimes we actually do have to work for what we want. (Man, I’m sounding like a grumpy old lady!)

That being said, please send $10 to my post office box, okay? Because I need more chocolate. If every reader sent me just $10 I might have a year’s supply and be able to afford some cane, too.

Kidding … kidding ….

Dear Band Directors

10. May 2011 · 4 comments · Categories: Grumble

I have a student who says he isn’t allowed to swab his oboe during performances. (It might even be that he can’t swab during rehearsals … I’m not sure!) His band director got angry with him when he tried to blow water out of a key. My initial reaction is to say, “Quit that band!” but instead I said, “the next time you get water in a key be sure to play boldly!”

Dear, dear band directors. I know you want a disciplined group. I know many of you like the military look and want everyone to sit perfectly still when not playing. I know we don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things. But can’t you please let my students swab their oboes when they have enough measures of rest to do so? I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you.

I’ve Remained Rather Quiet On This

09. April 2011 · Comments Off · Categories: Grumble

… not because it doesn’t make me angry, but because I’m just so darn lazy and neglected to get to it. But Norman Lebrecht has been reporting on the sad situation in Brazil for quite some time; all orchestra members were required to re-audition. Those that didn’t, it was reported, were fired.

Today Mr. Lebrecht has an update:

A Saturday concert in which a youth orchestra replaced the Brazil Symphony Orchestra, half of whose players were fired, was abandoned wothout a note being played when the conductor Roberto Minczuk was greeted with audience boos and applause.

A member of the youth orchestra then read a statement saying they refused to play in place of the dismissed musicians. The microphones were cut off, silencing his speech.

If you go to Mr. Lebrecht’s website you will find a huge number of entries about this debacle.

I know some will say that we should have to re-audition. Sorry, folks, but that’s not how this works. There are most certainly ways to dismiss a player who should be let go — at least here in the US. What bothers me most, I think is that five musicians from other countries were willing to go and audition these musicians. At this point 44 were dismissed. Pathetic. Sigh. And I’ll just leave it at that.

Because That’s What We Want To Be Called

17. November 2010 · Comments Off · Categories: Grumble

Read online:

Three hot classical music chicks talk fashion and international fame

Yeah. We “girls” have really come a long way.

Ageism is Alive & Well

05. November 2010 · 8 comments · Categories: Ageism, Grumble

Think all classical musicians are old and dusty, playing sonatas in symphony halls somewhere? You haven’t met the musicians slated for this year’s Impulse Artist Series: The Alter Ego Season, a weeklong slate of concerts that will take place in various locations throughout the city. There’s Kris Becker, a pianist who’s played Carnegie Hall and who tours as a rock keyboardist and composes nu-classical music. He’s joined by fellow pianist and multimedia artist Phyllis Chen, who often performs the works of 20th-century composers on toy pianos, boom boxes and other nontraditional instruments. Suresh Singaratnam plays both classical and jazz trumpet. “He does ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’ and all that,” says pianist/Impulse Artist Series executive director Jade Simmons, who organized the series. “But he does so much more as well.” And finally, there’s Brandee Younger, who plays the harp. “You think of that as an instrument for only classical music, but she makes the bulk of her living as a jazz and hip-hop musician.”

RTWT

I might be older, but I am not dusty. I am now a bit grumpy, though. This is not the first thing I’ve read that disses older musicians.

Found at the site for Impulse Artist Series:

“Replacing the stuffy, staid collection of classical music dead guys in white wigs with fresh, young, cutting-edge musicians.”

Gee, I’ve YET to see any dead guys in white wigs play in any concerts I’ve been in. How ’bout you?

No, I’m not a Brass Player

22. June 2010 · 2 comments · Categories: Grumble

Just received:

Hello fellow brass player,

I think you and your students may be interested in a new app just released for French Horn players. It’s called [removed because I'm annoyed] and available for the iPad. I wrote the software and am very excited about sharing it.

The website is at
[removed because I'm annoyed]

Let me know if you need more information.

Best Regards,

Ed Trujillo, President

Once again … Sigh …

19. January 2010 · Comments Off · Categories: Grumble

BAD behaviour at a Derby school has been halved – by playing classical music to unruly children.

Brian Walker, head of West Park School, has seen the improvement in behaviour among his pupils since he introduced two-hour detentions, complete with Verdi and Mozart.

Mr Walker also “names and shames” disruptive teenagers on video screens in the school.

And instead of handing out lines, pupils are forced to write out the poem Jerusalem, a favourite of Mr Walker’s.

RTWT

Using classical music as punishment ticks me off. If you don’t know why … well … I guess you don’t know why. (This particular article I find especially disturbing. And if you don’t know why … well … again, I guess you don’t know why.)

Why, Oh Why?

17. February 2009 · 4 comments · Categories: Grumble, Links, Opera, Ramble

Okay … little rant here … I just don’t understand why bloggers don’t realize the world can read what they write. I just popped in on an anonymous oboe player’s blog, and he writes about his friend shoplifting a $150 wallet from a Century 21 store (never heard of ‘em). How admirable. I suppose he thinks that no one will figure out who he is. I took one look at the blog and figured it out immediately. It was pretty darn easy. Not that I’ll do anything about the stealing. I’m just bugged that someone would blog gleefully about this. (Not sure I’d want him on my sub list, to be honest. Oh. But who cares about honesty, eh?)

I know, I know. I sound like a very old grumpy person. Sigh.

In Other News…
Tonight is another Così performance with Opera San José. I’m going to be smart and dress in layers. Lots and lots of layers. We only have three performances left, tonight, Friday and Sunday, so if you are interested in attending you’d better hop to it! And tonight’s cast is on their final performance.

Season News?
I still have heard nothing about the Symphony Silicon Valley 2009-2010 season. I do hope we hear soon. I’m anxious to see the programs. Maybe opera companies announce seasons earlier than symphonies. At least around here. In any case, both SSV and San Francisco Symphony haven’t put up new about next season yet, while Opera San José and San Francisco Opera have. I’m an impatient person and I hope I don’t have to wait much longer for an announcement from SSV.

What’s Wrong With This Picture?

30. November 2008 · 2 comments · Categories: Grumble, Ramble

Just on the news:

A survey of students:

  • 64% say they’ve cheated
  • 36% say they’ve plagiarized
  • 30% say they stole
  • but a whopping 93% say they are satisfied with their own ethics

    … and I’ll just bet you that some of that 7% who aren’t satisfied are probably the most honest of the bunch and just have very strict standards for themselves.

    I am SO thankful that I teach oboe and not something else. It’s very difficult to cheat on an oboe lesson. Even if a student lies and said he or she practiced I can often tell when that student hasn’t. (I have sneaky little ways to check this, too … it’s not just based on a student’s performance.)

    I really have no tolerance for dishonesty. It really ticks me off. :-(

    • Confession Time

    13. November 2008 · Comments Off · Categories: Grumble

    After my last post I’ve had that jingle stuck in my head. Over and over it goes. Stupid, stupid me. :-(

    Frustration

    12. September 2008 · 4 comments · Categories: Grumble, Oboe, Ramble, Teaching, Technique

    I can’t tell you how many times I have to correct new students due to some misinformation. (A simple word for “teaching the wrong things”.)

    So here, for you to read, are some suggestions from yours truly. And yes, I suspect some oboists might disagree with me. But this is my site!

    When teaching the alternate fingering for F, please teach left F if the student has the left F on his or her oboe when the right hand fourth finger is occupied before of after the F. Really. Why teach forked F (and with the E flat key, doggone it!) and then make the student learn the left F later. It’s just silly.

    Obviously in the instance a forked F is the only possibility please don’t have the student use an E flat on the forked F.

    Please teach the students to the use of the half hole, bottom octave key and side octave key. I can’t tell you how many students arrive not knowing which is used when, and some students seem to think you can switch it all around at their whim.

    Please don’t skip over pages of the Rubank or Gekeler. They are in order for a reason. Having a student begin in the middle of the books means some things may be missed.

    Please explain to the students that the Rubank and Gekeler fingering charts aren’t perfect.

    Please don’t let students write the name of the notes over every single note. What a silly thing to do. If you want to quiz them, do that separately from their lesson book.

    I realize some teachers don’t mind if a student uses both octave keys when only the side octave key is necessary, but doesn’t it seem like an extra movement when it isn’t necessary. Ask you student to play octave As and watch as their thumb moves to that unnecessary bottom octave key. How silly is that?

    If the notes aren’t slurred, don’t let them slur. If they notes are slurred, please have them slur. I can’t tell you how many students ignore articulation and make it up as they’d like.

    Yeah, I’m just a bit frustrated sometimes. I hate having to break the news to students that they have learned things so incorrectly. They are frustrated too, then, and that’s no fun.

    I know I’m not perfect. I’m guessing some teachers who take over my students and find errors in my teaching methods too. Please let me know when I do that. And if you disagree with any of what I wrote above, you can certainly tell me. But I still stick to my thoughts. :-)

    Some Operas

    31. August 2008 · Comments Off · Categories: Grumble, Oboe, Opera, Ramble

    I’m just home from work. Eugene Onegin, in case any readers have forgotten.

    Some operas get easier as we go along. Some get harder. For me, Eugene Onegin is the latter. And it’s a reed eater too. So far I’ve used four reeds, if I’m remembering correctly.

    Tonight, though, I wasn’t happy, wasn’t comfortable, and then I mangled one run completely. What I should have played: Fourth line D# down to C double sharp, back to D# to E# to F double sharp to G# to A# to B. Sure, it sounds easy, yes? But I looked up at the conductor (or tried, he’s so high up there I really can’t see him) and when I looked back the music was just gone. Or something. The run repeats only four beats later so I at least got that, but geesh … I’m am completely unforgiving when wrong notes are played by anyone else, and much more so when I’m the culprit. But I hear that the row behind me laughed, so I guess I made them happy. I have to admit whatever it was I played must have sounded completely hysterical but, I fear, I think it was similar to how I mangled something at our daughter’s wedding.

    Sigh.

    Stuff happens. Ya just have to learn to laugh at it and then not let it happen again. (Laughing and then repeating the error is a very bad thing to do.)

    No opera tomorrow. Then it’s four nights in a row. This is one demanding first oboe book. I think I’ll watch the movie of the opera that PH loaned me tonight. I’d like to get the music more firmly in this thick head ‘o mine, and seeing it would be fun.