New job, new home, new part of the country. After seven long years of adjuncting, I'm finally an assistant professor of music, specializing in teaching...the kazoo.
I welcome links from fellow bloggers. If you run a commercial website, I'd appreciate the courtesy of an
before linking. Thanks.
My blog is named "Terminal Degree" because I earned a DMA (Doctor of Musical Arts), not a Ph.D, in music performance. I have to explain that a lot.
Did I mention that I can't spell? If I didn't, you'll figure it out for yourself soon enough.
MUSIC BLOGS
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Seven good reasons to teach music
1) Two of my high school freshmen just got accepted into an honor band. The top performers from our state are chosen each year. Just for the record, freshmen almost never get into this ensemble. (Who, me, smug?)
2) Three of my students have become 1st chairs in their band since they started studying with me.* One of these was a kid whose previous teacher "fired" him because he wasn't progressing quickly enough.
3) I had a performance this weekend with the university's orchestra. I stood in front of the orchestra and 2500 audience members and played a solo with the ensemble, in a hall with incredible acoustics. (Yes, it was scary.) One of my colleagues was in the audience. She told me that when I walked on stage, she heard some girls loudly exclaim: "Oh, look, that's OUR TEACHER! She's awesome!" (Awwww!)
4) One of my students who wasn't able to read music when he started lessons a few months ago (he was playing by ear and no one ever noticed) can now read. Hooray, he's literate!
5) Two of my students just made stunningly gorgeous audition CDs for a scholarship competition. No matter how they place (or don't), I'm happy with how well they played.
6) One of my students just played in a masterclass for a Very Big Name teacher. He was very complimentary of her, and she was very poised and gained a lot from the experience.
7) My fourth grade student is horribly shy. Her mom warned me when we started lessons that I might never even hear the girl speak out loud. That was a few months ago. Last week she was really, really excited about her first recital. I had her practice performing for a pretend-audience, taking a bow, and boldly announcing her name and grade in school. Her stunned mom almost started crying when she saw how confident her daughter looked.
Yes, this is why I teach music.
*No, it's not about competition. I know that, I tell them that, and I make them share their solos with the other kids in the section. But still, it makes me pretty happy to see them excelling, even if this post does make me sound like a hypocrite after my previous post about music for the love of it. But I am truly happier with their level of success than with their "status," and I'd be happy with them no matter where they sat in the band.
