Questions for A Music Educator

Interviewee: Kelli Salisbury, music educator

1. What do you do? What's a typical day for you? 

I am a 1st and 2nd grade music teacher, private oboe teacher, and semi-professional oboist. A typical day entails 8, 40 minute classes with two 10 minute breaks and lunch. After school two-three days a week I teach private oboe students. Some evenings I have rehearsals. 

2. In your job, what do you have to write?  

I mostly write emails. Occasionally, I write recommendation letters for oboe students and student teachers. Also, in the past, I have taken classes working toward my master's degree. I wrote papers for these classes, ranging from philosophy papers to research literature reviews. I am currently in the process of writing my thesis proposal. 

3. What audience do you write for? 

E-mails: typically colleagues and students/parents
Recommendation letters: Depends on what the letter is for...college admissions or job interviews
Papers/Thesis proposal: Professors or general public.

4.How do you write it? (i.e. Do you have a certain process or format you write things in? How do you deliver what you have to write)  

E-mails: I typically start an email thread by addressing the person by name. Sometimes I will add a "hello___" or "Hey____," but if the e-mail is more formal or to someone I do not know, I will typically begin with "Dear____." I will then try to keep the e-mail light, but short and to the point. I usually close the e-mail in a friendly but professional manner.
Recommendation letters: These are usually more formal. I begin with the date at the top and address the addressee formally. I will then begin the body of the letter by stating what kind of recommendation I am giving. I follow with how I know the person I am recommending and the basics of education and working with this person. In the second paragraph, I try to elaborate on the person's accomplishments. Finally, I try to wrap it up with some summarizing statements about the student.
Papers/Thesis proposal: I almost always organize my thoughts with a brainstorm first. Sometimes I make a list of the points I want to make, sometimes I will do a bubble chart or concept map, and other times I will use post-it notes to organize my paper. I will write an outline of what I'd like to write and make first draft using the outline I have made. I will proofread (sometimes reading out loud) and continue to draft until I'm certain it is in the best form I can possibly hand in. I also ask others to read my papers and give feedback.

5. What other communication skills are necessary in your job besides writing? 

I have to be able to communicate with parents about student learning/behavior. It is important to make sure that if I have something that a student needs to work on, that I communicate it in a way that will well received. I also need to be sure that I communicate any issues I have with colleagues in a professional manner. 

A purely personal experience

This open blog post reflects on the fact that music is a field that makes one work a lot harder than some other life options. It seems I learn this anew again and again.

I think this may be most of all because music is a field that requires passion and zest. When you care about something, you're willing to put yourself through a lot more to make it work.

An example of how much harder you have to work can be seen in the credit value of the Michigan State University classes I'm taking. Most music classes are one credit. However, you do just as much work for that one credit as a higher level credit class. On top of that, you have to take a lot more classes. As of now, I am enrolled in 7 different classes totaling 13 credits. This writing class is a 4 credit course, but the course I probably work hardest in is my weekly lesson with my professor, which is only worth 1 credit. I practice around two hours a day specifically on material covered in my lesson.

With music, you have to keep the ultimate goal in mind: being a musician. This means working harder at both what you have to do to sustain your dream as well as working for the dream itself. While I was in high school, and even still now with these general eds, I see a divide between music and academics. I have had an awful feeling that music just doesn't count in some regards. In high school, though I worked hard at academics and maintained above a 4.0, I was still not considered for or selected for most scholarships because I did not take enough AP classes or enough academic curriculars. I was always working hard at music. I remember my senior year in the fall where I'd have something nearly every day after school music related. Monday was marching band practice for a few hours at night. Tuesday I had a piano lesson and an orchestra rehearsal an hour away. Wednesday I had an oboe lesson. Thursday I tutored a beggining oboist. Friday I taught piano. Saturday was a day of rest from formal musical commitment. Sunday I had a three and a half hour rehearsal with a youth wind symphony. On top of that I still maintained my grade point average and was accepted to MSU, a college with a music program where I can really benefit.

Music really wears you down, but in a way it's a reminder of what you really want to do with your life. When I look around and see people who are just coming here to enjoy the "college life", I am glad I am spending my money on something I am confident I want to do and see a real purpose in coming to a university to study for. It makes me feel as though I am truly living as myself, doing what I want to do, benefiting from it, and not just going along with the typical.

The Brain and Music: Dyslexia

There are currently theories that music could help children cope with Dyslexia.

Professor Goswami, director of the centre for neuroscience in education at Cambridge University, claims that music can aid in the learning process for reading:"Having an enriched musical environment in nursery should prepare the child for optimal ability in reading because a lot of this rhythmic learning is much more overt in music than language. We now want to see if interventions can train this system in the brain." 

The idea is that strengthening musical abilities gives the brain a better way to latch onto symbol reading and sound comprehension. However, there is some controversy with this theory, because it is possible for people to be successful musicians while being dyslexic. (A well known example being John Lennon.) It is also noted that dyslexics, while having trouble with written and spoken language, can still latch onto other sounds quite well. 

In May 2006, the Chicago Weekend did a report on Daryl Duncan, a musician\jingle-writer living with dyslexia. Despite living with dyslexia, he has still managed to live a successful career. In a sense, music has helped him cope. While Duncan has a hard time reading or performing his own written music, he says,  "While I don't perform live, I'm able to create things from scratch because I hear the entire piece in my head before I compose it." 

Duncan's dyslexia seems to be limited to written symbols -- such as letters or music notes on a page. However, he does not mix up sounds, and this may reinforce Goswami's theory that music can help cope with Dyslexia: Duncan may still suffer from dyslexia, but it is limited to visual comprehension -- his auditory comprehension seems to be unimpaired. 

Works Cited: 

Lesley, R. C. "Dyslexia Doesn't Stop the Music!" Chicago Weekend: 1. May 17 2006. Ethnic NewsWatch. Web. 15 Nov. 2012 . 

Ward, Helen. "Sense of Rhythm could Hold Key to Overcoming Dyslexia." The Times Educational Supplement Scotland.2226 (2011): 8. ProQuest Sociology. Web. 15 Nov. 2012.

Music and the Lizard Brain

This week in my theory class, my theory professor brought up something called the "lizard brain". The lizard brain is the primitive, decision making part in our brain.   

The best way to understand this part of the brain is outlined in an article written by Sherry Chiger, "Selling Online to the Lizard Brain".".. this sector of the brain thrives on familiarity. It equates familiarity with safety.." Chiger also brings attention to the fact that the lizard brain makes quick decisions, is emotional over intellectual, and likes beginning and ends. 

Though this article relates to marketing\advertising, it helps bring light to how the lizard brain affects our everyday lives, and how important of a role it plays in influencing our decisions, intuition, and feelings. 

How does this apply to music? What my theory professor brought up was how the lizard brain plays a part in our anticipation of music -- For example, a dominant, or V, chord naturally wants to lead to the tonic, because it contains the leading tone. When it doesn't lead to the tonic, or I, chord, the lizard brain is unsettled. There are general conventions in music that dictate certain sounds lead to a certain set of others, and these are tied into the expectations of our lizard brain.  

This connection to the lizard brain may just describe why music is very often described as indescribable  and why music is an emotionally engaging activity for most people. 

Works Cited

Chiger, Sherry. "Selling Online to the Lizard Brain." Direct : Magazine of Direct Marketing (2010)ABI/INFORM Complete. Web. 11 Nov. 2012.

RAIDS Analysis

In my WRA class, a process called "RAIDS" is used to analyze a source's content. It stands for: revision (What ideas, attitudes, etc are being changed by the views of the source?),  arrangement (what in relationship with one another?), invention(what ideas, atttiudes, etc, are being suggested by the text), style (i.e. formal, scholarly, etc), and delivery (how the source is presented).

This week's post will use this process to analyze the "total technique training" (copyright Supremo 2009) chart my professor created to, well, improve technique. It has nine levels of technique training:

• Major and minor scales
• Major and Minor thirds
• I, IV, V, V7 chords in major and minor
• chromatic scales
• diminished 7th chords
• scales with neighbors
• lower neighbors to chords
• whole tone scales
• bartok exercise 

These are listed in a flow chart style on the front, and the back has a description of how to practice each of these areas.

Revision: The chart revises how to practice and improve technique. It provides ways of  scales and how these scales can be put into various patterns, all of which will improve the technical abilities of a player. Technique is a crucial element to any player, but this learning process has a very focused, exact way of learning technique to improve playing.
Arrangement: The chart puts the relationship between notes into the various musical patterns\relationships they can have and labels them accordingly.
Invention: The chart portrays that learning total technique is only a matter of learning, recognizing, and memorizing these relationships between notes in these patterns.
Delivery: This material is in chart form -- it is a laminated sheet of paper. There is a chart on the front covering the main ideas of the chart, and a list on the back describing each area.
Style: Informitive, and not formal, the chart is based a lot upon visual observation as much as reading: there is music notated to demonstrate each of the patterns, and the text takes a visually appealing form to organize the material.


Two more details may also be noted about this chart:

Purpose: To provide an organied, straight-forward guide to significantly improve the technical aspect of playing.
Audience:  Oboists -- especially those studying with my professor as the material ties in with her other teachings. 

For me, the chart is easy to read and understand. Technique is not the most exciting thing to me, but the chart puts the information in a way that's easy to grasp and not be overwhelmed by. It also provides new and focused ways to practice technique -- a lot of musicians, or at least begginers, assume all their is to practicing technique is simple scales. But this chart helps define expand the definition of technique training.

Works Cited:

Eberle, Jan "Total Technique Training". Supremo. 2009. Print. 

Instrument Care: Swabbing v. Feather

Part of being a solid player is knowing how and when to maintenance your instrument -- if your instrument is not performing at its top ability, how can you?

I've already covered topics that have covered some issues of repair, but this post will focus on the issue of cleaning out the inside of a wooden oboe using a swab or a feather. This past week has  sparked an enlightenment on how important this issue is. 

At my studio class this week (when everybody who plays oboe meets for a class), our professor performed a demo on cleaning out the octave vents on an oboe.

Taking a step off to the side, for those who don't play oboe, the the octave vent is a piece of metal (often brass, but not always) that has a hole in the middle -- in other words a vent. It is placed under the octave keys. One of the octave keys is shown below. This octave vent must be removed with a special sort of tool, which is also shown below.

The reason why one must clean out the octave vents is that a lot of, well, crud gets stuck in it. If you don't brush your teeth before you play, food waste can be a culprit of this crud. However, another and often times bigger cause of the crud is lint. Where does this lint come from? The use of a swab.

At the above mentioned studio class, it was evident that the owner of the oboe being used as a demo was a swab user. There was a matted clump of gross, greasy lint, food and moisture caught in the octave vent. When our professor asked what color swab this girl used, she confirmed it was the same color as some of the very small pieces of the swab that had been stuck together in the octave vent.

Mostly, crud stuck in an octave vent is gross. More importantly, it prevents certain notes from sounding correctly. Luckily, this can be prevented through teeth brushing and using a turkey feather to clean the inside of your oboe instead of a swab. Feathers will not leave behind lint, and help to clear water and condensation out of the oboe more effectively.

Socialization and the Importance of Music

In a 2002 article, Kristen Ferguson, reporter for the Metroland, highlighted some of the importance of music in an article titled "Songs for the Soul: The Carondelet Music Center Stresses the Importance of Music Education in Nurturing Childhood Development and Building Community". The article supports the claim that  music has an alleviating power to the effects of melancholia, or what Ferguson states is a "natural Prozac for the soul".  The report uses the Carondelet Music Center, to exemplify this concept among others. 

The center, which is located in Latham in the provincial house of St. John's church, has a mission statement that aims to"foster, preserve and improve the state of music education for all people aesthetically, socially and spiritually." The article quotes sister Patricia St. John's testament to the power of music: "[Children] walk away from here with so much more than being able to play the piano. Music is important for building confidence and self-esteem. It helps [children] with discipline, it's a healthy outlet, and it promotes engagement rather than passivity. It's wonderful to see a child skip out of here." The Carondelet Music Center, however, is not the first to comment on the positive effects of music. Another article supporting this claim, titled "Making Music Can Help Overcome Depression", in The Telegraph reported on a study led by Professor Jaakko Erkkilä at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, which tracked the progress of adults diagnosed with depression when given music therapy sessions. (It may be noted that this the music therapy was in combination with other treatments the patients had been receiving). Overall, the research showed that the adults had fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression  

 Both articles also noted music's importance because of its ability to socialize. Patricia St. John (from the Carondelet Music Center) testifies that "One of the neat things that happens here is that this whole wing [houses] retired sisters. The sisters come down [to the center] and the old and the young meet. It's been a wonderful interaction and benefit for everyone." The study of the depressed Adults in Finland also implied that music was a socializing factor: out of 20 sessions, at least 18 were attended by most of the group, which would suggest that music holds people's interest, bringing them together on many occasions.

 I can also testify, from firsthand experience, to the fact that music is a strong socializing force. Being a music major at Michigan State University, a university of over 50,000 people, I see examples every day of how music brings people together. Generally, the music school at MSU has a small town feel, where everybody knows everybody, and people look out for one another. It's a community thriving with connections inside and out. Though all professional musicians must learn the ability of being a soloist, working with a group and coming together are much more important skills -- especially considering that is what any ensemble must do to perform. Music socializes in this way, but as much as it brings people together on the inside, it does outwardly too: an individual does not have to be part of the music school at a university to witness how music socializes. Go to any concert, and the ability of music bringing people together can be viewed in the array of people sitting in the audience.

Why is this socialization aspect so important? In the most extreme cases, lack of socializing an individual can deplete a human of the ability to perform civilized actions and interactions. This can be seen in the case of a 16 year old girl who was named Genie and had suffered severe social isolation. The effects of her isolation resulted in only being able to retain a miniscule vocabulary. Of course this is an extreme case, but it certainly highlights the basic human need for interaction and socialization. Though many things have the ability to socialize, music is a particularly effective socializing force because it has a positive, enjoyable impact. As noted above, it lifts spirits and lessens the effects of depression. At the Carondelet center, music improved attitudes of children as well. Ultimately, music is not just a pastime, but a highly functional agent in improving the life quality of those who participate in it.

Works Cited: 

          Ferguson, Kirsten. "Songs for the Soul: The Carondelet Music Center Stresses the Importance of Music Education in Nurturing Childhood Development and Building Community." Metroland: 36. Feb 07 2002. Alt-PressWatch. Web. 24 Oct. 2012 .

"Making Music Can Help Overcome Depression," Telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group Limited. 01 Aug, 2011. Web. 24 Oct. 2012.     

Fromkin, Victori. "The Development of Language in Genie: A Case of Language Acquisition Beyond the "Critical Period."." Brain and language 1.1 (1974): 81-107. PsycINFO. Web. 31 Oct. 2012.

Reed Making: Learning Styles

Music is an art that requires you to learn almost everything hands on. Rarely is there a textbook for what you need to do, and everything you learn by watching or doing.  The task of reed making (all oboists make their own reeds) is one of the best examples of this.

In my reed making class, however, my professor has written out, in a very detailed manner, exactly what to do. This is also paired with having to do the skill hands on, of course, but the written out instructions for reed making add a twist to the learning process.

I’m finding I like this process – it tells you exactly what to do. The way my professor learned to make reeds was much less descript: her teacher would do a demo of how to make a reed and then she had to make a reed. This method puts a lot of guesswork into reed making. The point of the written lectures is to take the guesswork out. However, this must be paired with hands on learning experience as well, which is still a very large aspect of learning to make reeds. 

This past week, we had to learn a certain scrape named “chips fly”. (I’d also like to note that the name of this stroke is only specific to the reed making system the oboe studio at MSU uses.) “Chips Fly” is the first scrape done on a reed after tying the cane onto a staple (a metal tube surrounded with cork).  Just like everything else in music, words cannot quite encapsulate everything about reed making either. Reading about how to do the “chips fly” scrape paints a clear picture in your head of what is supposed to happen, but when you attempt the stroke and find you can’t perform the skill as imagined, it gets frustrating. Even though, with the now written lectures, it takes a lot of guesswork out, there is still a lot of firsthand experience and detail you must incorporate into the scrape you are trying to perform on a reed – and that can only be learned by practicing it yourself.  

Another difference in hands on versus learning by direction is that reading about how to perform a scrape only trains your brain how to perform a task; performing the task hands on trains your muscles to as well as connects the two modes of learning. This is much harder. This is also exemplified by the different quizzes we are given each week on the scrapes we must learn in reed making class. There are always two different kinds of testing: one is a multiple choice quiz on the lecture, and another is an in class evaluation of your ability to do the scrape.  It is much easier to do the multiple choice quiz – it’s only testing your ability to memorize and understand written language. Performing the scrape for evaluation requires you to really understand how to do the task, not just recite words. 

 

An Emergency Fix

This week in my lesson, I learned “a bit” about repair. 

Originally, my professor was supposed to help me perform a small repair on my oboe, but one repair turned into several others. Originally, we were going to place a small circle of cork under a key to even out the amount of lift on two keys, but upon taking apart and off some of the rods and keys to be able to perform this repair, we discovered how rusty and sludgy the reaction on a lot of these rods and keys were.  (This rust is all on the inside – just to clarify to those who are not musicians\oboists.)

This called for further maintenance. Normally, a key should rotate freely around the rod. On my oboe? The keys had to be given a bit more than a nudge to spin. To clean the keys, the screws and rods had to  be taken out and cleaned of the rust. To do this, friction is created between the rods\screws\keys to loosen the rust, and then a piece of paper towel is used to wipe the rust off. When all these bits and pieces are assembled back on the oboe, a bit of oil is usually applied to the screws.

This process was going well, but my keys were in fact so rusty that a spring snapped. My professor did not have a replacement spring at the time, so we had to resort to an emergency repair – the sort equivalent to a bucket under a leak in the roof. In the world of oboe, this means taking a rubber band and tying it around your oboe to hold a key up or down (depending on the key) so that it has the same tension of a spring, allowing the key to be lifted up or pushed down.

Luckily I got my spring fixed later that day. Not so fortunate was showing up to my ensemble rehearsal a bit late since the repair took so long. Even more unfortunate was discovering my professor had forgotten to attach my left F key to my oboe, but that was put back on later that day when I went to get the spring repaired.

Josef v. L'oree

I have been looking into buying a new oboe recently. I have a professional model l'oree oboe, which has been the standard professional brand of oboe in the music world. This is beggining to change, however, since a new maker of oboes has come along: Josef. The change is slow to happen however, since many musicians get stuck up on tradition, and many oboists are still bias towards l'orees and skeptical of Josef oboes.

This weekend I got to try Josef oboes first hand and see for myself how they compared. I loved Josef. Granted, my l'oree is 10 years old (and for those of you that do not know, that is pretty old), and it is beginning to blow out. Even though I may be bias towards a new oboe versus my old oboe, I still believe Josefs are a wonderful make of oboe, and I can see why the oboe community is slowly transitioning.

Josefs are much more consistent. Every l'oree is different in feel and tone it seems, but Josef's have a consistency not only within each model but all models share similar features. My professor pointed out that with l'orees, she could go through a batch of twenty oboes and come out with four. Josef oboes? It's much harder to pick one since each instrument varies less.

L'oree oboes often have a flat higher register, a saggy f sharp, a sharp 'e', and various other tuning difficulties. Josef oboes do not have as much variance in the tuning. Josefs are also made so that the fingers of the right hand are not spread as far apart, allowing for more technical ease. I also loved the tone quality in the lower register, which was very resonant.

The choice seems obvious then: Josef is better than L'oree. However, many oboists are traditionalists and want to stick with L'oree, because that is the way it has been: if you play oboe, you buy a l'oree. But the times are changing. L'oree used to be the best around, and they do still make good oboes!, it's just that Josef has made oboes that are more up to date, thus overpowering the monopoly L'oree used to hold.

Music Piracy: the Controversy

One of the bigger controversies, both in the music world as well as in the general public, is the issue of downloading music. Many discussions, political and ethical, have been had about what is legal or right and what is not.  

An article in PC magazine, titled "More Squabbles over Digital Music; the Controversy Over Digital Music Downloads", covered more on this issue. Writer Michael J. Miller discussed the cases of a few students who " were sued by the Recording Industry Association of America for administering services that let students search the campus network for files and for hosting MP3s on their PCs. The RIAA sought $150,000 per file that could have been downloaded, and settled for $12,000 to $17,000 from each student" 

Many people believing downloading music without paying is theft (including the author of this article). However, Miller points out that an easier and cheaper way of downloading music needs to be developed so there is no excuse for stealing music.  

This article was written in 2003, but that was only a begging of what would continue on the controversy. 2003 was around the time iTunes first opened its music store with .99 cent songs. Easy and relatively cheap, like Miller suggested. This wasn't enough to stop music downloading, however -- an article in the New York Times in 2010 (titled Music Industry counts the cost of Piracy) suggested 95% of all music was illegally downloaded.  

Most people think of downloading illegal music as a minor offense, but when everybody is downloading illegally, it adds up. So record companies are at a loss at what to do, so cases arise like the students sued for large sums of money in 2003. Even recently, May 2012, CBS news reported a man was sued for about $700,000 for illegally downloaded music -- which was mostly pirated in his high school years. (The article can be read here: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505270_162-57438933/supreme-court-silent-on-illegal-music-downloads/). 

The targeted individuals for music piracy by record companies are meant to send a message to others that music piracy is wrong. It seems most people agree that piracy is not ideal, but these lawsuits don't gain many supporters.

Works Cited: 

Brown, Terrell.  "Supreme Court silent on illegal music downloads". cbsnews.com CBS. 22, May 2012. Web. 18 October, 2012.

Miller, Michael J. "More Squabbles Over Digital Music ; the Controversy Over Digital Music Downloads  

has Reached Fever Pitch, Indicating that some Big Changes are Imminent." PC Magazine Jun 17 2003: 7-. ABI/INFORM Complete; ProQuest Research Library. Web. 18 Oct. 2012 .  \

pfanner, Eric. "Music Industry Counts the Cost of Piracy" nytimes.com New York Times.

Articulating on Oboe

There is a lot of physical control that goes into being a musician. And the control that must be exerted is usually in very small areas, such as individual fingers or wrists as I briefly covered in an earlier post about hand position and tendinitis.

Another one of these areas is the tounge.

For wind instruments, the tounge is used to articulate notes. For non musicians, this is similar to how you articulate speech. When you say a sentence, the tounge touches (or doesn't touch) at different places around the mouth to create a certain sound. The tounge works in a similar way to create certain sounds on an instrument.

On oboe, there is a desired method of where and how the tounge should hit.

Generally, all wind instruments emphasize a light tounge when articulating notes. Having a heavy tounge is the equivalent of trying to talk while sticking your tounge out of your mouth.

Tounging on oboe requires the middle of the tounge to hit the side of the reed.

To the left is a few examples of oboe reeds -- oboe reeds are made of two blades of cane tied together on a metal tube.  

In order to tounge lightly on oboe, the tounge must touch the smallest opening of the two blades. The smallest opening, then, is on the right or left corners where the two blades meet.

Great Musicians and Great Intellect

In an earlier post I talked about the correlation between musicians and bipolar disorder. This post will cover another connection between the mind and the musician: intelligence.

I recently read this scholarly article:

http://search.proquest.com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/docview/916872402/fulltextPDF/139A1C7CE6B1B630E40/4?accountid=12598

Titled, "Correlation Between Intelligence and Musical Talent Among University Students", the article covers what role intelligence plays in musicians. It has not been the first time I've heard of this connection. I have heard many times that learning a musical instrument increases intelligence, especially in science and math. 

Many people would assume that intelligence and musicianship went hand in hand -- if an individual has a high IQ, they are cut out to be a good musician, and if an individual is a good musician, they were very intelligent as well. The study shows this is not the case, however. 

The focus of the essay was on college age students. The students were divided up into IQ groups between 70 and 134. They were given general intelligence tests to determine these IQs and then music tests that focused on six groups ( pitch, intensity, time, consonance, tonal memory, and rhythm) were also given.  The correlations between IQ and test results were not clear. The biggest correlation between intelligence and IQ was found in the "pitch" test.

The best words about the findings were those of  C.E. Seashore, that it is "possible for a person, strong in other capacities, but with relatively low intellectual powers, to assume fairly important roles in music within restricted areas or fields of music activity, but the great musician is always a person of great intellect."  

I will note that this is a study from 1928 -- pretty outdated. But it seems to me and my experiences to be still valid. The best musicians I have met are usually very intellectual, intelligent people. They read and write. They are literature or history buffs. Have photographic, uncanny memories. Sometimes they're extremely good at math or science as well, but I find more of a correlation between history\English\literature and musicians rather than the sciences or maths. The science and math type have the capacity to be good at music, but I find that those types of people do not have much of an emotional attraction to music.  I have also, reversely, met people who were highly intelligent but were not good musicians or did not care for music. 

However, the grey area of this study is, what even is intelligence? There are many types of intelligences, and I include music as one of them. A more accurate and apropriate study may be the correlation between musical intelligence and word intelligence or number intelligence.  Or, this study could be redone with a specific definition of what intelligence means in this case.

Works Cited: 

Fracker et al, "Correlation betwen Intelligence and Musical Talent Among University Students." Psychological Monographs. 39.2 1928. 157-161 print.

Injury as a Musician: Tendinitis

Like athletes, even musicians face injury and risking damage to their bodies. 

The most common of these is tendinitis.

What is tendinitis?  Tendinitis is an inflammation of the tendons (tendons are what attaches muscles to the bone -- they're a thick and fibered cord ), and this inflammation usually results from a repeated stress on a particular area over time. For musicians, this usually happens in the wrist due to handhold of the instrument. Tendinitis is marked by a tenderness, sometimes swelling, and an overall irritation when moving\using the inflamed area.

Luckily tendinitis is not serious -- but it can lead to a higher risk of tedon rupture, which is something serious. Luckily there are ways to combat tendinitis -- because nobody wants a tendon rupture or to have ache-y wrists while they play. 

The best way to combat it? Reduce as much tension as you can. In my weekly oboe lessons, handhold and release of tension has been a crucial aspect. (The release of this tension is not only good for reducing risk of tendinitis, but also makes for better playing!)

Reducing the tension means putting your hand in as much of a relaxed position as you can -- curve fingers. Curved fingers take less effort to move. To demonstrate this point, lay your fingers flat and try to move them as fast as you can. Now curve your fingers and do the same thing. The curved fingers move much faster and with less tension.

 

However, hand grip is much more complicated -- I can certainly attest: I spent almost a whole hour lesson on handhold alone last week. Depending on the instrument and player, the tension and sources of caused tendinitis vary. I tend to leave my fourth fingers flat, press down the pinky keys with too much force, and grip the oboe with the left thumb. All of that not only increases tension and risk of tendinitis, but slows down my playing and technique. I have invested a lot of time into relearning my handhold, but overall it has benefited my playing abilities. It's a tedious process to change  how you hold the instrument, but in the end it works out for the better! 

 

Works Cited:  

 

"tendinitis" mayoclinic.com Mayo Clinic. 8 Nov, 2011. Web. Oct. 3, 2012. 





Ethics in Music

"Professional musicians contribute through their performance of music to the public in promoting the enjoyment and understanding of music. This Code is principally concerned with this role, though professional musicians also contribute by providing music for weddings, funerals, and religious ceremonies."

All job fields have their own code of ethics, and even among professionals in that field, the ethics vary. The above quote is an ethical statement from the National Association for Music Education. (I am going to just focus on this bit, but you can view everything they have to say about their code of ethics, you can see it here: http://musiced.nafme.org/about/position-statements/the-music-code-of-ethics/ .) 

For me, this is only a shallow shade of how I look at music -- it's a very formal, educational view. Of course, since this is a statement from the "National association for Music education", this makes sense -- a statement on ethics from a group of performing musicians would probably focus on different aspects of music.

As a music performance major myself, I agree with this statement, but I find it is not enough. It covers the smaller portion of what I do as a musician. As a performer, I view music as something very spiritual. It is not simply about mastery or enjoyment -- music is what strengthens me as a person, makes me most productive in this world, and gives me purpose.  It is then my duty to present this to the world -- to share the power music has with me with others in my performance. Performance is about being true to the music and presenting these deeper, spiritual feelings contained in it to others. 

Going to college for music, I am helping to complete this mission -- I'm learning how to portray music correctly. I'm learning how to be the best performer I can be. I'm learning how to deliver the messages music has to offer.  Because music is a language words can't grasp, I can't present these messages in any other way but music.  But perhaps that is one of the best aspects of music -- you are forced to stop talking and start listening to the world around you. You are pulled into a realm that connects musicians and non musicians alike. You are brought into world that breeds connection and understanding among its listeners by what each individual hears and feels.

Works Cited: 

 

MENC (et al), "The Music Code of Ethics (Position Statement)". NAFME. National association for Music Education. 2012. Web. 1 Oct. 2012.

On campus organization: MSU Concert Band

 
Below is a picture of the Sparty statue -- right in back of that is Dem Hall, where theMSU concert band rehearses.

There are various MSU bands that are open to music majors and non-music majors alike. The one I participate in is the MSU concert band.  Rehearsals are for fifty minutes Monday through Thursday of every week. The band is directed by Dr. Cormac Cannon, but usually on a piece or two, one of his conducting students will direct a piece. 

A lot of people have participated in ensembles and bands in high school, but university level ensembles, as well as professional and extracurricular ensembles (such as the spartan youth wind symphony run by MSU), really push rehearsals to a higher, intensely focused level. 
The biggest difference you'll notice in a university ensemble is that rehearsals don't help you to learn your part -- that's what is required of you outside of rehearsal. Instead, rehearsals focus on matters of the ensemble. In other words, rehearsals are not about your ability to play as an individual, but the ability to play together as a group. This includes the ability to blend and balance the sounds of each instrument, to be able to play rhythms in sync, to be able to match style, to work together to create the feel and tone of a piece -- the list is really infinite. Showing up to rehearsal with just your part learned is not enough. Rehearsals are not a test where you exhibit your knowledge, but they are like any other class where you show up to learn. In a rehearsal, you learn how to all become one performer.

Of course, the overarching purpose in an ensemble is to make music. You'll find in the music community "making music" means a lot of things. It can't be defined simplistically, because so many things go into making music. Music is not just simply playing notes on a page. It's not even playing a combination of notes. Music making is everything beyond what is notated on the page -- written out music is simply a mediator between the musician and music making. It is a sort of translation to breifly understand what the music means. But as a soloist, an ensemble member, or any sort of performer, your job is to work to portray all that beyond what's written.

Breathing and Breathing techniques on Oboe

Breathing is no new concept to even non-musicians -- you must breathe in order to play a wind instrument afterall. How to breathe is something that even non begginners have to review time and time again. 
So, naturally, as I had my oboe lesson this week, my professor reminded me of how to breathe. And I did learn some helpful new things about breathing, but for me and those reading it, it won't hurt to cover the basics one more time. 

Now, for any wind instrument or voice, it is obvious one needs good air support. The most common mistake begginers make is breathing with their shoulders. Take a deep breath. Did your shoulders go up? If yes, you're doing it wrong.  Breaths should make the stomach, rib cage, and lungs expand. Pushing out the air should make your stomach feel tight . In his Oboe Art & Method, Martin Schuring points out that "The idea [of breahing] is to expand the torso -- to make it wider, not taller. If breathing makes you taller, reexamine your posture..." (7). Something my oboe professor (Jan Eberle) has helpfully pointed out as a test for proper breathing is to place three fingers spaced out on your sternum. Take a breath. The three fingers should not move.   

Another important aspect to breathing is the diaphragm.

A lot of music students know the diaphragm plays an important part in in the breathing process, but, as I embarassingly discovered this week in my lesson, the function and location of the diaphragm is unclear. As shown in the diagram above, the diaphragm is right before the lungs and rib cage. A lot of people think like I all to recently did, believing that the diaphragm was beneath the stomach or at least farther down from its actual location. The function of the diagphragm is to push the air out from the bottom of the lungs, which uses all the air in the lungs instead of the air in just the top half of the lungs -- using only that top half of the lungs is much less effective and what is internally happening during "shoulder breathing".

Now, just as important as breathing in on oboe is breathing out -- this involves using a technique called puffing. This is a technique most common and essential to playing the oboe. Puffing involves breathing out small puffs of air during the course of the piece. The structure of the oboe and the reed creates a build up of air that must be exhaled when playing. The puffing technique is a better alternative to breathing in and out at once.

Something new I learned in my lesson this week is that you have to breathe in less than you think, and you have a lot more air stored in the lungs than you think. My professor demonstrated an exercise to exemplify this. Breathe out. Then hold a note on your oboe for as long as you can. She can sustain a note for 45 second after emptying her immediate air supply. She even noted that when you breathe out before playing, tone production is often better -- you use a lot more support when you have less air, which supports the note much better. 

Another last point on breathing is PLAN. Plan out a breathing schedule in whatever piece, etude, excerpt, etc you are playing. This goes for any instrument. (In fact, and I speak from experience as a pianist for 11 years, non wind instruments should even breathe and plan out where they are going to. But that is another rant for another time.) A breathing plan helps you stay consistent with your breaths as well as allows you to figure out beforehand where the best places to breathe in and out are. I have also found that a breathing plan helps during an audition or performance, because I get very nervous and want to take more breaths, which messes up phrasing, tone, etc. With a breath plan written in, I can't forget and I know where to breathe. 

After reviewing and learning more about breathing techniques, I was left very enthusiastic to practice. I wanted to test my breath limits. I wanted to get right to practicing and marvel over the improvement in tone production. Writing this post, I feel the enthusiasm all over again. Breathing is of course a very crucial element to being a musician, and I think sometimes we, myself included, forget to review the basics. And sometimes when you do, you'll find out something you didn't know before.

Works Cited:

Wikipedia 


 Schuring, Martin. Oboe Art & Method. New York. Oxford University Press, 2009. Print.

"Thoracic Diaphragm." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 27 Aug. 2012. Web. 18 Sept, 2012.