Re: 1 bad player -- Heidelberg MusEd discussion

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Date Posted: 08:15:53 05/12/06 Fri
Author: Dr. O.
Subject: Re: 1 bad player
In reply to: Ferris 's message, "1 bad player" on 18:47:26 04/22/05 Fri

Sorry for this end-of-year message, but this has been a very interesting converstional thread, and you all seem to come down on one side of the argument, so I'll give the other side with a real-life example. I worked with a high school band last year, and while I was there the director took me aside and said that one of her flutists was coming to Heidelberg next year and intended to play in the band. She said, however, that the student was a special learner and couldn't actually play the instrument at all, but the director had let the student participate in high school band anyway. The director told me "All (the student) does is go 'hoo, hoo, hoo' into the flute, and doesn't actually play any notes." Sure enough, the student came to Heidelberg and auditioned for band this fall, and the director was completely accurate. The student couldn't actually play ANY notes or rhythms; of course, I had to tell the student that they didn't play at an appropriate level for a college band, but I appreciated their auditioning, etc. I was as nice as I know how to be (OK, maybe I don't really know how to be all that nice) but the student burst into tears, and has continued to glare at me every time I encounter him/her on campus all year, obviously thinking I didn't know what I was doing.

So, here is a student who participated in high school band, and I hope got something (although I don't know what) out of it. The student also left high school without an inkling that they couldn't actually play an instrument and it came as a rude surprise to discover it. Here is my question: given that all the private lessons in the world weren't going to help this student play the flute, was the student actually well served by their high school band experience? There are many non-musical advantages to music programs (social, discipline, developmental, etc.), but shouldn't the basis of our programs be about music? Shouldn't there be a place for students to fail at music (after diligent effort on the part of the teacher and student, but no success)? This is something to think about.
Dr. O.

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Re: 1 bad player -- Jessica Rigsby, 20:16:04 01/23/07 Tue [1]

I agree with Dr. Owen 100% (now how often will that really happen? haha) I too had a situation in a high school womens chorus where a girl with special needs some how wormed her way through the system and got into this permission only group. The director decided however not to hurt the students feelings by letting her try and sing with us. The end result was a sound I had never quite heard befor, kind of a low rumble under the beautiful melodies and harmonies being produced by the group. Needless to say, after a few days of this the director had to pull the girl aside and inform her that she simply could not be in his choir because she was so far behind the rest. He did however grant her permission to join our general chorus which was a come-all group that sang one "popular" song per concert. This, I think, was a good solution to the problem. Instead of removing a "bad" student all together, try just placing them in a lower ensemble if there is one available. If not talk to the student about private lessons, and let them know if they improve they can attempt to audition back into the group.

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