Greetings from the Teacher:
Seasons Greetings:
It appears as though twice per semester is all I can manage for
this newsletter. Thanks for your patience. Students who pass
through my studio as high school juniors and seniors have
frequently asked me about college possibilities. My thoughts on
this are mixed. I am sure parents are interested in some of my
ideas as well as potential student choices. I do not have a
"canned" response to college inquiries. My
recommendation is for students to allow enough space for a great
deal of thoughtfulness about their college decisions. I try not
to take to a position of encouraging or discouraging any
student's choices. I do try to encourage students to avoid hasty
decisions. I do try to provide them with the value of my
perspective and experience if they are interested in majoring in
music as a possibility. Whatever their college choice, I do want
students to be aware of some of the many options that are
available to them in their decision making process. Many of my
students have attended Santa Rosa Junior College and transfered
to another school after one or two years. This is the path that I
followed as a high school graduate. This choice has advantages
(saving tuition costs and providing time to consider decisions
carefully) and disadvantages (potential social stagnation and
transfer credit issues). I would like to dedicate this issue of
the newsletter to a discussion of the subject of ootential JC
attendance and college transfer.
What's New?
Student Notes:
(Please feel free to email any submissions for
this list. I would like this area to ultimately be linked to
stories rather than just a list)
Teacher Thoughts:
College counseling flaws at Santa Rosa
Junior College
We live in an area where we have the benefit of a fairly high quality Junior College (formerly in the top 10 in the state-I think that status has dropped over the last 10 years for a variety of reasons). For many students the decision to attend Junior College following high school affords them the opportunity to (1) save money for college transfer (2) work on taking basic classes that they would be required to take at any 4 year institution and (3) figure out what major they want to pursue by taking a variety of classes. Exercising all of these options is, in my opinion, making good use of our local institution. However, my experience over the last 25 years with Santa Rosa Junior College has left me with a "bad taste in my mouth" regarding the college counseling that many students receive. Although SRJC's music department is planning to institute a "music major" complete with private lessons, I think the same fundamental flaws in the counseling and transfer system will continue to exist. These difficulties have to do with the administrative policies and the counseling department, not the music department, its quality, or the transfer process.
Flaw #1
All SRJC students transfer to state or UC schools within
California.
Many students are not interested in transferring to a school within either of these systems or within the state. Unfortunately, SRJC is not set up very well to assist students who may be interested in out of state schools or private institutions. The counseling, credit, and transfer system is simply not set up for this. If your plans include attending school out of state, you should plan on encountering some "snags" due to the way the SRJC counseling system is set up! Poor advice from counselors is one of the biggest issues at SRJC as far as I am concerned. Counselors are trained to give out specific information in a way that will benefit the state by perpetuating the existing transfer system.
Flaw #2
If classes are good enough for the state or UC system, they
are good enough for any school.
This is simply not true. In my own case, I wasted GE credits and time in classes that did not transfer to the private college I wound up attending for my undergraduate degree. My desire is for students to be as efficient as possible with their time, energy, and money.
Flaw #3
Music classes transfer to other schools just like any other
class.
If a student decides to be a music major, he usually hopes that the music classes he is taking will transfer and he will enter as a junior. Here is a little reality check: MOST MUSIC COURSES WILL NOT TRANSFER TO ANY MUSIC PROGRAM ANYWHERE. This is a key factor that NO college counselor is willing to admit, but it is the cold, hard truth. Music courses are credited based on exam. A student may sit through several semesters of theory only to find, on the day of their theory entrance exam, that they have to take this all over again from the beginning (because of terminology and notation practices)! Expect this to happen. Plan for it. Do not be deceived. As a music major transferring from the JC, a student must realistically plan on spending more than four years in school in order to complete a degree program.
The bigger issue than music theory and history equivalency exams is private LESSONS. EVERY MUSIC MAJOR WILL HAVE A PROBLEM IN THIS AREA! SRJC does not offer private lessons as a part of the music program. This is scheduled to possibly change in the Fall of 07. This means that (currently) EVERY music student WILL wind up at the end of their college career needing AT LEAST one additional full year of lesson credits. Most of the time these lessons can not be "doubled up" and taken all at once because passing lessons usually involves taking a "jury" exam and offering a recital. Usually, neither of these can be done "two at a time".
My advice #1
Use the counseling department only when necessary (to sign
approval for registration) in order to avoid being mislead. If
you know a good counselor, stick with that person and avoid all
others. Avoid changing counselors if possible. Switching
counselors in "mid-stream" usually results in
explaining your objectives from the beginning each time. Set up
appointments with your favorite counselor and don't take
"no: for an answer if they are not available. Start early to
avoid being "shut out".
My advice #2
Seek counseling from the institution you want to attend in order
to avoid taking classes that will ultimately not transfer. Be
clear with your JC about which school you would like to attend as
soon as possible. Tell the counselor at your transfer institution
which JC you are attending currently. Bring transcripts or
catalogues to counseling sessions at either location. Search
online for class and degree requirements. Email someone in the
department and ask for help.
My advice #3
If you are a music major, continue your private instruction and
sign up for the Music 44.x series (which requires an end of
semester "jury"). Although the credits may not transfer
to the school you wish to attend, there will be documentation of
lessons at the college level. Again, these course numbers and the
lesson arrangement may change in the Fall of 07. Email the music
department for details.
My advice #4
Get your A.A. degree. Make this your priority. If you don't wind
up transferring, you will at least have a college degree. That is
better in any case than no college degree at all. Chances are
that an institution will consider accepting credits from a degree
program rather than loose, unrelated, or random classes.
Future Topics:
More Parental and Student Information:
Student Thoughts:
What I Got Out of Summer Camp
By Harry Marks
This summer I attended the first week of the Brass Chamber Music Workshop at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California. The workshop is two weeks long and attendees can attend for one or two of the weeks. The workshop is usually limited to 80 participants. The instruments represented are trumpet, horn, trombone, euphonium, and tuba. There are generally twice as many trumpets as any other instruments because of the usual mix found in most brass chamber music. Most of the players came from Northern California with the remainder from all over the United States. We even had one player from Australia. The attendee’s ages ranged from 14 to 89.
Each day of the workshop you are assigned a different group and type or group. They try arrange the groups in such a way as to ensure that you don’t play with the same people more than once. This year I was in a quintet (2 trumpets, horn, trombone, and tuba), a mixed quartet of 2 trumpets and two euphoniums, a sextet (2 trumpets, 2 trombones, horn and tuba), a trumpet quartet, and a dectet (4 trumpets, 4 trombones, horn, and tuba).
Each group has a coach assigned to assist the group in preparing for that evenings performance. The coach is a working professional on a brass instrument. The coach’s job is not to be a director, in fact there is no director for any of the groups. The help in interpretation, tempo and working as a team.
There are three morning and afternoon sessions of 45 minutes each with a mandatory rest period between the periods. The rests are an important part of the day. It allows you to rest and let your body recover. It is also a great time for visiting with the other players. By the end of the second session you will have sight read several pieces and are now expected to chose something to prepare for that evenings program. You will spend the bulk of the remaining sessions fine-tuning a piece for that evening. The sessions end a 4 PM and you have until the 7pm program to do whatever you want.
On Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday there were special presentations by members of the coaching staff. One presentation was on preparing for a solo, and one was entitled “Jazz Playing for Legit Players and Legit Playing for Jazz Players.” On Tuesday The all horns, and all the tubas and euphoniums prepare a piece for that evenings program. On Thursday the trumpets and the trombones prepare a piece or two for that evenings program. The trumpets perform their piece outside the auditorium for the obvious reason that 24 trumpets can be a bit dymanic.
Meal times are a great time to meet the other players. Most of us eat in the school cafeteria. One meal I was at a table with a high school student, a school band director, a Ph.D. Physicist, a chemist, a college professor and a professional trumpeter. The conversations at these meals can run from the sublime to the ridiculous.
After the evening program players are encouraged to freelance and create groups to read through some more music. Several members may have brought the collection of music that the have from groups they play in at home.
Brass chamber music playing is unlike any other playing I have ever done. Because the groups are small, every part has equal importance in the overall sound. There is no hiding in a trumpet section and taking a rest while someone else continues playing your part. The smaller the group the more you play.
You must listen to the other players. They give you clues and cues of how your part will be played. If the horn starts a phrase that are echoed by the trumpet, you learn to match the phrasing and dynamics in order for the music to be a pleasing blend instead of a series of solo playing.
You must keep the tempo in your mind. Because there is no conductor, each player must have a sense of the tempo and where the tempo is going. This is usually aided by the player with the lead. This is not always the trumpet. The lead is passed between the players at various times.
Get to know the other players. All the players bring something unique to the group. Some have an affinity for Baroque music, some for jazz, big band or other types of music. If you are uncomfortable playing a particular style, there is usually someone in the group that can give you insights. I had the experience of joining a freelance group on Monday night that was going to read jazz charts. I am not particularly interested in jazz but I volunteered so there I was, feeling over my head. The other members of the group pitched right in and helped me get use to the rhythmic pattern unique in the pieces we read.
In summary, attending this program was the highlight of the summer. I met some new people from across the globe, rekindled some friendships from last summer, sight-read dozens of pieces of music, and got to perform in front of people who love this type or music.
If you attend the camp and you are a trumpeter, take your various keyed instruments. This year I used both my Bb trumpet and my flugelhorn. The piece that was played by the dectet called for Bb trumpet, Eb trumpet, Bb Piccolo trumpet and flugelhorn.
There were days when I felt that I could never play again but I was raring to go the next morning. Above all I had fun.
Teacher Performance Schedule: