One of the big surprises for me when I first started teaching was how much students didn't know about music, especially classical music. It was easy to forget how much I had learned since I began studying music, or what I had picked up from being raised in a white, middle class family (though they weren't particularly musical).
It's "Bach." It kind of rhymes with "rock" (abandoning any hope of a German pronunciation). No, he didn't write the "Toccata and Fugue in Dm" to be scary music for a horror film.
I try not to be condescending.
The Beethoven we're talking about is Beethoven the composer, not the dog in the movie.
I try not to roll my eyes or grunt in exasperation.
It's Wagner pronounced with a "v," and "show pan" not "chop in." That's a treble clef, not a trouble clef (at least for most people).
Give them credit; they are curious. Classical music is a mysterious world for many of them and they are intrigued by it.
No, you don't have to be fat to sing opera.
They like Carmen. What's not to like in an opera with great music and a plot filled with sex and violence.
No, Mozart didn't write Eine Kleine Natchmusik to make a ringtone, and no he didn't really laugh like that.
They love Amadeus; I just repeat a few thousand times that Salieri did not really kill Mozart. They like the "Queen of the Night" aria, and a couple of brave souls will valiantly attempt those high notes.
No, I don't want to hear your x-rated version of "Every Good Boy Does Fine." No, the term "F hole" refers to the hole on the violin's body. No, that's not what mf stands for, at least in music.
I refrain from telling them the joke about why Bach had so many kids (no stop on his organ – few would get that one), or the difference between an orchestra and a bull (the bull has the horns in the front and the ass in the back).
Don't get me wrong. Many (maybe even most) students have had some musical education, either formally or informally through their family. A few are even incredibly talented and knowledgeable. I remember walking through the halls of a middle school in East LA and seeing a kid sitting on the floor studying the score to The Magic Flute. My first year at Taft High I had a student pianist who was not only a great sight reader, but could easily transpose while he was sight reading. Still, there are times I shake my head.
No, that's not Beethoven playing the piano on the recording of Moonlight Sonata.
It's not their fault, they just haven't been taught. They like the first movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, as well as the last movement of the Ninth (although that can get a little long – anything over three minutes is long). And then there's "Für Elise."
Yes, I would love to hear you play "Für Elise."
For the ten thousandth time I listen to a student attempt the first part of Beethoven's little study – MOLTO rubato, slowing down at the hard parts, wrong notes scattered here and there, "oops, let me start over," . . .
But I am sure that when I first started playing classical guitar my performances were just as flawed. No doubt, my guitar teacher, grimacing on the inside, gave me an encouraging word or two.
So now it is my chance to support students as they begin to explore the world of classical music. Now, and in years to come, this music will offer them comfort, beauty, and joy. I am fortunate to be given this opportunity.
That sounded very good. You've really got a nice feel for the piano. Hey, have you heard this? It's a prelude by Bach. Yeah, it looks like "batch," but it's pronounced "Bach." It kind of rhymes with "rock."
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