New Students (Caitlin)

I gained three new private students: Carmen, Alice, and Nathan. Carmen takes clarinet lessons from me. At age 8, she started at a rather young age compared to most clarinetists. She is also blind in one eye and this causes her difficulty in reading longer music selections. Luckily, I have remedied this by sourcing recordings (and making them myself if they are not available). Carmen's stubborn tenacity is apparent whenever she plays. Her default playing style is fast and accented, so I'm trying to get her to slow down and enjoy the legato passages.

Alice is one of Steve's trumpeters. He referred Alice to me because she was frustrated with her old music teacher telling her that she was bad all the time. That was not true at all. Though Alice has no especial gift for the trumpet, she has the strongest work ethic I have seen out of any student. She tends to pinch on high notes and play too softly, probably due to a lack of confidence on her instrument. Having been rejected from the Minecraft Youth Orchestra three times, Alice is suffering from a classic case of what I call "third trumpet syndrome."

Third trumpet syndrome is a phenomenon that occurs in musicians, particularly younger musicians, who experience long bouts of musical frustration brought on by a lack of perceived progress. It varies on a case by case basis whether the musical frustration or the lack of progress comes first. Rejection from ensembles, repeated excessive criticism from instructors, and long periods of being last chair when one cares about their chair position are common catalysts for the development of third trumpet syndrome. The most common symptoms of third trumpet syndrome are a sudden decline in musical interest, recurrent thoughts of self doubt, lack of practice, musical apathy, and a desire to quit one's instrument. Aside from third trumpet syndrome being detrimental to one's musical growth, it can lead to a systemic apathy and low self-esteem. Often, sufferers are naturally critical of themselves and need to learn to use this part of themselves constructively. I called it "third trumpet syndrome" because this occurs most with third trumpets.

Nathan is my French horn student. In contrast to Alice and Carmen, he prefers to take his musical growth easy. He has little regard for chair position and is in band for the sheer joy of the relationships within the ensemble. Nathan's musical growth came to a screeching halt after he came to dislike his other teacher, so his parents made the decision to switch him over to me. Alex's testimony had helped in all of these referrals. I am a firm believer in the statement "If you want feedback on a teacher, ask their student(s)." I found out that Nathan had a competitive teacher that forced him to participate in things he did not want to do.  Rumor has it that he employed the help of several grad students to help him with a musical project and did not credit them for it.

Of course, I can't use the same teaching methods on such different students. Alice needs a to-do list, Carmen needs a challenge, and Nathan needs small pushes (key word: small). I have all of them working on scales, but I have each of them doing it differently. Alice enjoys checking off a circle of fifths. She struggles with the sharp scales as most concert band musicians tend to do. Pinching on high notes is another one of her issues. Getting Alice to push with her diaphragm and not her mouth has been quite the challenge; however, she is getting the hang of things.

Carmen is working on pieces with some sixteenth note runs even though it is her first year. Dotted rhythms trip her up. Counting and clapping works wonders for her as does fingering along. I am also preparing Carmen for playing in ensemble settings. We work on balancing and blending in our duets. Carmen will always choose the top part given the choice, but sometimes I make her play bottom. This reinforces the idea that a lower chair does not make her a bad musician. Sometimes, directors keep good musicians in lower chairs to make sure someone knows how to play harmony.

Nathan plays his scales in 120 bpm quarter note patterns. He can play a few two octave scales. A bit sluggish and indolent, I open him up to slower, more lyrical advanced pieces. Nathan is a better hornist than he makes himself out to be. I don't try to make Nathan someone he isn't. Instead, I take the motivation he has in order to assist him with his goals. Anyone can mold students into the people of their preference, but it takes a true teacher to assist a student progress in their own way on their own time. He uses multiple assistive devices throughout the course of a day due to his having spina bifida. Nathan's band director wants him to achieve more musically in order for him to be more of an "inspiration". I don't know why she thinks this way, honestly, as she respects the capabilities and motivation of her nondisabled students. Why won't she do the same for Nathan?

Alex has, of course, welcomed them all enthusiastically into her musical family. I think they will all benefit each other. Alice will give Alex more of a work ethic; Carmen will motivate Nathan to move at a faster musical pace. Likewise, Alex will teach Alice how to relax and have fun with her playing while Nathan's laid-back approach will temper Carmen's fiery nature. I plan to do an ensemble with them. It will be by no means conventional or easy to pull off, but it will do them all good.

J'adore mes élèves. Ils sont excellent, mais ils sont très différent.