Comments on: Why I teach http://doublebassblog.org/2007/05/why-i-teach.html double bass news, stories, downloads, podcasts, and more! Fri, 23 Dec 2011 05:11:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Jason Heath’s Double Bass Blog » Reflections on my double bass teaching career http://doublebassblog.org/2007/05/why-i-teach.html/comment-page-1#comment-2304 Jason Heath’s Double Bass Blog » Reflections on my double bass teaching career Wed, 30 Jan 2008 13:43:25 +0000 http://doublebassblog.org/?p=1176#comment-2304 [...] Why I Teach [...] [...] Why I Teach [...]

]]> By: Part III: Music Major/Career Thoughts - What I want to do… « Kayla’s Blog http://doublebassblog.org/2007/05/why-i-teach.html/comment-page-1#comment-1536 Part III: Music Major/Career Thoughts - What I want to do… « Kayla’s Blog Thu, 20 Dec 2007 17:21:10 +0000 http://doublebassblog.org/?p=1176#comment-1536 [...] Why I teach [...] [...] Why I teach [...]

]]> By: Jesus Apodaca http://doublebassblog.org/2007/05/why-i-teach.html/comment-page-1#comment-615 Jesus Apodaca Fri, 01 Jun 2007 01:05:00 +0000 http://doublebassblog.org/?p=1176#comment-615 Jason, <br/><br/>I'm interested in what sorts of things you went through teaching on that first day of class when you took that first class through the technique routine. Did your teacher take you through some sort of technique crash course at your first lesson in college? What did that consist of? Jason,

I’m interested in what sorts of things you went through teaching on that first day of class when you took that first class through the technique routine. Did your teacher take you through some sort of technique crash course at your first lesson in college? What did that consist of?

]]> By: Anonymous http://doublebassblog.org/2007/05/why-i-teach.html/comment-page-1#comment-609 Anonymous Wed, 30 May 2007 19:05:00 +0000 http://doublebassblog.org/?p=1176#comment-609 Thanks for the reminder! Right now, with not enough students and gigs, I've been worrying about money and getting dark on the lifestyle. It's always good for me to reflect on what a privelege it is to teach private lessons. I get to know people of all ages in a real interaction, and they get to know me. And I get to think about the infinitely interesting subjects- guitar playing and music making.<br/><br/>McFoolery Thanks for the reminder! Right now, with not enough students and gigs, I’ve been worrying about money and getting dark on the lifestyle. It’s always good for me to reflect on what a privelege it is to teach private lessons. I get to know people of all ages in a real interaction, and they get to know me. And I get to think about the infinitely interesting subjects- guitar playing and music making.

McFoolery

]]> By: Elaine Fine http://doublebassblog.org/2007/05/why-i-teach.html/comment-page-1#comment-608 Elaine Fine Wed, 30 May 2007 16:44:00 +0000 http://doublebassblog.org/?p=1176#comment-608 Thank you for this excellent post, Jason. I have taught students in cities back in my flute days: aspiring professionals, professionals who wanted to get better, kids, teenagers, amateurs, and people looking for ways to express themselves. It is different teaching in a small town, especially one in an area that is not that culturally rich. For some odd reason music seems to have more meaning when there is less of it around. I never encourage my rural students to go into music professionally, but I do remind them that the fun they are having with it is life-enhancing and that learning to express themselves musically makes everything in their lives more interesting. They believe me because it is true.<br/><br/>In my college town of 20,000 we have three violin and viola teachers. One teaches at the university, and she teaches all the string students there. Another teacher teaches so many students that she has to hold two 90-minute recitals twice a year. She has a policy of always making room for siblings to study, so several enormous homeschooling families who want to have family string quartets take up much of her schedule. These are kids she can teach during the school day, making time for her school-going students to have lessons in the afternoons and evenings. And she still has time to play quartets and orchestra gigs with me!<br/><br/>I just have a mixture of college students who are not music students, high school and middle school students, adults, and little kids that really enjoy playing and having someone take them seriously in order help them to play better.<br/><br/>There is no string program in our school system or in any school system in our county, yet the first stands of the IMEA district orchestras are always filled with students from our area. We have a string orchestra that meets for fun in the summer, and many of our string-playing kids remain enthusiastic about music when they move away after having morphed into adults. Thank you for this excellent post, Jason. I have taught students in cities back in my flute days: aspiring professionals, professionals who wanted to get better, kids, teenagers, amateurs, and people looking for ways to express themselves. It is different teaching in a small town, especially one in an area that is not that culturally rich. For some odd reason music seems to have more meaning when there is less of it around. I never encourage my rural students to go into music professionally, but I do remind them that the fun they are having with it is life-enhancing and that learning to express themselves musically makes everything in their lives more interesting. They believe me because it is true.

In my college town of 20,000 we have three violin and viola teachers. One teaches at the university, and she teaches all the string students there. Another teacher teaches so many students that she has to hold two 90-minute recitals twice a year. She has a policy of always making room for siblings to study, so several enormous homeschooling families who want to have family string quartets take up much of her schedule. These are kids she can teach during the school day, making time for her school-going students to have lessons in the afternoons and evenings. And she still has time to play quartets and orchestra gigs with me!

I just have a mixture of college students who are not music students, high school and middle school students, adults, and little kids that really enjoy playing and having someone take them seriously in order help them to play better.

There is no string program in our school system or in any school system in our county, yet the first stands of the IMEA district orchestras are always filled with students from our area. We have a string orchestra that meets for fun in the summer, and many of our string-playing kids remain enthusiastic about music when they move away after having morphed into adults.

]]> By: oceanskies79 http://doublebassblog.org/2007/05/why-i-teach.html/comment-page-1#comment-605 oceanskies79 Wed, 30 May 2007 04:08:00 +0000 http://doublebassblog.org/?p=1176#comment-605 Thank you for this post. Teachers are important to students learning music. I realised this because I can feel how my playing has improved when I started taking double bass lessons on a regular basis, than when I tried to figure things out on my own. Thank you for this post. Teachers are important to students learning music. I realised this because I can feel how my playing has improved when I started taking double bass lessons on a regular basis, than when I tried to figure things out on my own.

]]> By: Brian Roessler http://doublebassblog.org/2007/05/why-i-teach.html/comment-page-1#comment-604 Brian Roessler Wed, 30 May 2007 01:12:00 +0000 http://doublebassblog.org/?p=1176#comment-604 This is really profound essay, Jason. Thanks for being so thoughtful and sharing it with us all. This is really profound essay, Jason. Thanks for being so thoughtful and sharing it with us all.

]]> By: Joseph Pisano http://doublebassblog.org/2007/05/why-i-teach.html/comment-page-1#comment-602 Joseph Pisano Tue, 29 May 2007 18:32:00 +0000 http://doublebassblog.org/?p=1176#comment-602 Jason,<br/><br/> Another great post! I think many people do not realize the amount of time, education, personal sacrifice and finincial decisions teachers make in order to become/remain a teacher. Most "people" only see the summer's off part and take the worst from there. <br/><br/> I often ask people how much they think someone with a bachelor's degree and one or two masters should be making... usually they drum up some high number and then I tell them the average teaching salary in our area is low to mid 30s AND they have all the above degrees. They are are shocked to find they are usually over 2x times as high...but then again it's "just a teacher', yeah, right!<br/> <br/> I know for me, it was and has never been about the money. It's about a passion and wanting to help students to learn and succeed.<br/><br/> Scott Ditullio just wrote a great article on my site about this subject also titled "Why I Teach". It's very insightful and meaningful as well. <br/><br/> Thanks for the great post,<br/><br/> Joe -MUSicTECHnology.net Jason,

Another great post! I think many people do not realize the amount of time, education, personal sacrifice and finincial decisions teachers make in order to become/remain a teacher. Most “people” only see the summer’s off part and take the worst from there.

I often ask people how much they think someone with a bachelor’s degree and one or two masters should be making… usually they drum up some high number and then I tell them the average teaching salary in our area is low to mid 30s AND they have all the above degrees. They are are shocked to find they are usually over 2x times as high…but then again it’s “just a teacher’, yeah, right!

I know for me, it was and has never been about the money. It’s about a passion and wanting to help students to learn and succeed.

Scott Ditullio just wrote a great article on my site about this subject also titled “Why I Teach”. It’s very insightful and meaningful as well.

Thanks for the great post,

Joe -MUSicTECHnology.net

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