Posted by Rick Denney on February 22, 2000 at 12:59:04:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Civic posted by HS-in all maturity on February 21, 2000 at 19:16:44:
"there is nothing that you can learn that's worth $75 an hour..." is my favorite. I would say that is true. There is nothing *you* can learn at any amount, apparently.
When I decided, as a returning tuba player, that I would take lessons (which I've always regretted not doing as a child, by the way), I looked around for a teacher. The only tuba player within driving range that had a *sound that moved me* was Mike Sanders when he was in San Antonio. I wrote him a letter, told him frankly how bad I was, and asked for one lesson. I made it clear that I didn't feel teaching me was worth his time. Advice from him on an appropriate teacher would have been fine. In the end, he gave me three lessons, at a price one-fourth of what I charge as an engineer, and 15 years later I'm still assimilating what he taught me, and I still think about it every time I pick up the horn. I learned as much from listening to him play his Alex (pre-Yorkbrunner) in my presence as I learned from what he said. That sound will always be in my head, reinforced by the sound and teaching of other great players I've heard in person and studied with since then.
Had I walked up to him after a concert and said, "Hey, pal, I wanna lesson; when do I show up?" ,he would have been too busy for me, I'm sure. Respect, man.
When I was in high school, my band director borrowed a Mirafone from Rice University so that I would have a decent horn to play (vs. a fiberglass sousaphone). I appreciated it greatly, but in retrospect not greatly enough. I suppose that's the high-schooler's disease: Not understanding or appreciating the value of things that people do for us.
And this notion that tuba playing is not on the same terms as other professions is balderdash. Sure, it's art. No doubt about that. There is an assignment from within that goes along with the assignment from without. The engineering work that I do is not art, but to do it with quality still requires training, intuition, creaivity, dedication, and not a small amount of talent. It's just that engineers with no sense of quality get well-paying jobs, too, and that lack of quality is harder to see. In the music world, any lack of quality is right out there. Even players with lots of it often can't get jobs they deserve.
When you learn how hard it is to be really good at anything, you will respect those who have done it. But you have to learn, first.