3rd
Different learning styles
It’s been two months since I started J and J on piano lessons. Mrs. Victoria commented on how different their learning styles are. I guess that refers to Julia’s method of goofing around on the keys versus John being more end-result oriented. I have heard the first part of the Star Wars Darth Vader march theme at least 100 times.
I don’t know what their musical futures hold, but Mrs. Victoria is an encouraging instructor. And she has to be, because these days, music lessons today battle with a host of extracurricular activities, and band funding is down.
I started playing clarinet in third grade. Our instructor Mr. Rahn had an outstanding reputation. He was also, in some students’ eyes, a jerk. (My older sister egged his house once.)
He didn’t suffer unmotivated students well, and I was one of them. I never practiced at home. Of course, we played every morning in addition to section lessons once a week, so I still squeaked my way to second chair.
By eighth grade, my relationship with Mr. Rahn was truly strained. One spring day, Ms. Avalon, a young student teacher, attended one of our section lessons. Fifteen minutes into it, Rahn gave me a “woodshedding” for my lousy playing on Kensington Overture. He’d yelled at me many times before but no other adult was ever present to add to the humiliation, so this time, I started crying.
But that’s not why I remember the day. It was because of the next moment, when Ms. Avalon lit into HIM about berating me. The first chair, Heather Hall, and I sat there stunned, watching the fight unfold, ending with the angry departure of Ms. Avalon.
Looking back I always worried about what happened to her. And I want to tell her, thank you, but he was right. I deserved all of that. For six years I was lazy and probably brought down the entire section’s morale. I really should have quit. But my father loved clarinet so I didn’t want to disappoint him.
I just wish my learning style was more conducive to the tough love approach so I’d be a better model for J and J now. Let’s hope they keep at it.
