Temper, Temper……John Madden vs. Music Practice
Last night, I had a flash back to the worst orchestra practice I had ever participated in. It was a youth orchestra practice—surprised? The staff had just hired a conductor fresh out of Germany—he had a great resume……….. but had never worked with kids before. For this post, I’ll call him “Joey” to not be mean. Joey probably had just arrived in the US, 48 hours prior to this practice. He was excited……..and strolled into our giant practice/sound room wearing a Cowboy hat and Cowboy shoes…….we all just stared. He obviously was looking forward to having an “American” experience.
Joey announced, “Today, we are going to start by playing the William Tell Overture.” Amongst the rustling of the music on the stands, you could hear a silent grumble……….”that again:(“ We played the beginning ten measures…..and again…..and again……and then just the cellos……and then again…….and then finally—–Joey lost it. He was angry that the students weren’t “getting” it. He worked himself up into a temper tantrum………and in the process he hit his baton on his stand so hard—-that it bounced and flew 30 feet into the air. The room was silent…..everyone was looking to see where that baton was going to land. It felt as if that baton had been airborne forever……the moment seemed to operate in slow motion…….that moment could have easily been narrated by John Madden, “there it goes ladies and gentlemen…flying down the field……closing in on the fifty yard line…….touch down!” At that moment, the baton managed to bounce off one of the drums in the back of the room and it finally landed. At that point, Joey seemed to feel justified…….he looked as if his airplane baton was a fair enough representation of his emotions……and he left it at that.
Growing up, I seemed to have had many opportunities to be under the music authority of temper ridden “Joey’s.” And on reflection, I don’t believe that much of the anger was a result of a teacher “trying to push the student to be better.” I believe that for the most part,
1. the teacher didn’t have patience to work with kids—but was looking for a paycheck
2. the teacher wanted great performances—because it was a personal reflection of their own teaching ability
3. the teacher had lost perspective in life—because their music was their only focus
You know what was sad about the “airplane baton” practice—-many students got up and left. They left the practice with the intent of never playing again—because despite of the new Joey being out of control—-we had many Joey’s that had already been out of control. The students were tired of being yelled at and tired of feeling humiliated. One thing that I’ve never been able to understand is this……music is about joy……..music brings happiness—-so why do we musicians and music teachers turn our musical experiences and expressions into a serious, boring, angry, out-of -touch—points of focus? Musicians seem to lean towards this direction more than not.
I think that as a teacher, it’s really important to understand that many students will not move forward if they don’t feel constant encouragement. I think that we forget how much our music is an extension of ourselves — and how vulnerable we make ourselves in our music. Also, many of the students will never move forward—they may just not be naturally inclined—however, it’s not about their success as a music student—it’s about their take always—-you can build them up—or you can be that black mark in their childhood.
But if anything, remember this one thing………music is music. It’s wonderful, it’s glorious and passionate………but if you are a involved musician–or teacher……when you feel that you are going to loose your temper—in any activity………ask yourself, “In the scope of how short life is……why am I letting my emotions go here? Are my emotions truly making a point—or am I just leaving a legacy of being another Joey?”
