I have noticed, however, that my ears and eyes are in need of energizing and renewal. Day after day with middle school students has let me “settle for less” in terms of accepting their tone quality, intonation, and sight-reading skills.
In our current focus on standards-based education, we need to remind ourselves as teachers to set reasonable expectations, but to reinforce skills needed to attain our high standards. It is far too easy to give up on a particular student or a particular skill. Listening to the pinched tone quality of an eighth grade brass player used to cause me to interrupt my lesson plan and modify embouchure or breathing. As of late, I have often moved on, thinking “eh, it’s too late to change” or “it will fix itself over time.”
I need to refocus on setting high standards, and following through with appropriate modifications. I need to set time aside for score reading. No, I will never conduct Persichetti with my middle school band, but even (good) beginning band pieces have some layer of detail that does not reveal itself upon sightreading. I need to spend more time listening to professional musicians, take advantage of the fact that I live in a tri-college area, and continue to study with professors and other musicians.
This is what I love about teaching music- I can never be so skilled or passionate about my craft to consider myself masterful in every area of music. There is so much to learn and to embrace from thoughtful and inspiring people around me!
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