April 2009

Teaching isn't just teaching

April 17, 2009 15:39

"Ruth, my husband has terminal cancer," she says as her eyes well up and her voice wavers.

"We just found out about it last week. The doctors tried surgery but it didn't help. We haven't told Madeleine yet, but we will soon, and I just wanted you to know, so you can be prepared. The doctors have given him about six months . . ."

Thud. The studio door shuts. I turn away, catching my breath. Not Jerry. How could this happen to good old Jerry? So kind-hearted, so generous, so joyful and joking. I can't imagine how Madeleine will take the news about her grandfather. What will happen to the weekly ritual of Jerry bringing her in for violin lessons, teasing her with that twinkle in his eye as she giggles and teases right back? How will her sensitive, loving heart take this news? What if she loses her best friend?

Thoughts flood my mind, tripping over themselves. Prayers, hopes, worries, questions, that lead to a new resolve. No matter what happens, I will be something stable for this girl: a shelter if she needs it, a friend who will listen, and a voice who will comfort. I can do no less. Oh Jerry. One of the kindest, most generous souls I've ever been blessed to know. I'm praying, but bracing myself at the same time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A slender brunette with a soft voice and gentle motions peeks around the corner. "Come on in," I smile. "You must be Sjobor." She looks at the ground, answers my questions with just a few soft but polite words. Her motions are slow and careful as she unpacks her viola. She looks younger than her mid-teenage years. A small slip, an out of tune note, and her eyebrows and forehead immediately contract in concern. Sweet, sensitive, and so shy. I coax her out, slowly, gradually. No worries. I will never force you to learn something far beyond your level, something just for show or routine's sake. Don't be afraid. Let's explore. Let's solve problems together. Let's have fun. Who is there to fear? I see myself in you. I see a girl with so much potential. I see a girl who just needs to learn that it's okay to try new things. It's okay to go after your own idea. It's okay to feel uncomfortable in the pursuit of something new and exciting. It's okay to make mistakes.

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Teaching isn't just teaching.

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In the heart of it all

April 5, 2009 11:24

In my last blog I mentioned how much I've been enjoying viola lately. I've been musing on this lately, trying to figure out exactly why its so attractive to me. After rehearsing with my quartet the other day (on viola) I came to a conclusion: When I play viola, I feel like I'm at the very heart of the music, at its core, its center. When you think about it, this is exactly true. Take an orchestra: you have basses and celli on the low side, and the violins on top. Who's right in the middle? The violists. With time, I've come to appreciate more and more the importance and enjoyment of playing the middle voices. While it's always fun to have the melody, to be honest, I enjoy playing the accompaniment better. It's so fascinating to me to figure out how best to support the other voices. What articulation fits here? How can I better match the melody? When do I have something special to bring out? What harmonies in this passage are most important? Playing second violin in orchestra this semester, I ask myself these questions a lot. I know some people find the part more boring than the firsts, but the way I look at it, it is as boring or exciting as you make it. Sure, playing a string of eighth notes seems pretty simple at first glance. But sometimes is the inner voices that can make or break a piece. So often, the violas and second violins are the motor of the orchestra. Who has the constant subdivision? We do. Who has that special note of the chord that gives it just the right color? Very often, we do.

But back to viola . . . like I said, I've been playing in a quartet lately. We're doing Mozart's K. 370, for oboe, violin, viola, and cello. The biggest challenges for me are articulation (matching the violin) and intonation, since the oboe and violin tend to be more sharp naturally, and the viola tends to be flat. This is compounded by the fact that I'm coming to viola from violin, so my personal tendency is also to play flat. I discussed this with my viola professor, who said that he cheats a little and tunes just slightly sharp for chamber music, especially the C string. He said that violinists tend to tune their 5ths quite 'tight,' so violists have to compensate slightly, especially with the C string, which is so far from the A. I tried this last rehearsal, in addition to being more personally aware of my intonation tendencies, and it helped a LOT. It'll take time to refine, but I'm not floundering as much as in the first couple rehearsals where it we would land on chords out of tune, and I would be like, 'What's going on here? My fingers tell me I'm in tune!' As far as articulation goes, I mainly need to work on bow distribution. Often I need to play lower in the bow on viola to get the clarity that is so easy on the violin.

Random side observation to all you dual violin-violists: don't you hate it when your brain switches clefs unconsciously? So embarrasing! Our last quartet rehearsal was right after an orchestra rehearsal in which I had been playing violin. I was fine until the 2nd movement, when somehow my brain was like, 'Hey, treble clef!' and I played some blatant wrong notes. The funny thing was how I was completely clueless until I heard what was coming out, and then I was like, 'Oops, wrong clef!' What gets me is just how randomly my brain decided to switch. I think its even funnier when I'm playing violin and this happens. A couple times when I've been sight-reading violin duets in my teaching I've played a couple wrong notes because my brain was thinking in alto clef. Sigh, the perils of 'dual citizenship,' as I like to call it. ;)

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April 2009

Teaching isn't just teaching

In the heart of it all

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