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Dear Guests, Welcome to my blog which I treat like a creative garden where I regularly plant and change this and that be it poetry, philosophy, an Oboe Brilliance lesson, an essay of some kind, or a journal about composing. Visit every Monday for oboe coaching which is also helpful for many melodic instrumentalists. Musically yours, Kathryn
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"How do you compose?" That is the most commonly asked question I hear.
This blog is a window into my creative process and philosophies as a composer and instrumentalist. At times it may contain music, photos, and poetry as well. May you enjoy, return, and benefit!   My Archives  September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009
What to consider when commissioning an original score!
Oboe Brilliance: The art of mentoring lesson #2 Listening and questioning What Oboe Brilliance is and the inspiration behind it Oboe Brilliance: Mentoring Essay # 1 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 |
Dear Guests,
What to know when commissioning music First, it helps to find a composer with whom you wish to work! How do you know if you want me to compose your piece? This may will help you decide. As in the times of craft guilds where apprentices studied techniques, craftmanship, tools of the trade, the apprentice would submit a piece to the guild demonstrating mastery of craftmanship for approval and acceptance to the guild as a member. I would submit "Lydian Lullaby" (on home page and music page) as it demonstrates command of various traditional, and classical techniques. Because this piece is completely tonal and straightforward, it is a naked piece with no where to hide lack of technique with experimental or computer generated works. This piece shows creative use of one melody, spun out sentitively for 9 - 10 minutes, and effective writing for wind, percussion (piano) stings, and voice for the enjoyment of babies to elders. Now, you and/or the composer need to determine the following: 1) duration of time - approximate or specific (How long do you want the piece to last? How many movements?) 2) instrumentation 3) budget 4) skill level of musicians to play the work 5) schedule - time table 6) purpose and desired results 7) professional or private use 8) copyright, performance rights, contract agreements 9) manuscript considerations It's important to me that you get what you need, so I will help you figure (perhpas what you need to figure out!) before writing up a crystal clear contract. I will ask you a lot of questions to make sure I understand what you need, and will only write up a contract if I feel confident that I can create what you want and need - all things considered. Commissions begin at $7,000. U.S. dollars. An example of that would be for an unaccompanied acoustic solo instrument piece for 5 minutes or so in duration. A 7 minute choir work would start at around $10,000. A ten minute quartet starts at around $15,000. A ten minute concerto for soloist and full orchestra starts at around $20,000. Very large works are more negotiable of course. I work only with a clear cut contract and 50% down. When the work is due, influences the price of the commission, desired format for the manuscript, as well as other considerations such as recording and performance rights. I am very patient and helpful when it comes to clarifying just what you want and need. Feel free to ask questions, keeping the above in mind! Musically yours, Kathryn
Oboe Brilliance: The art of mentoring lesson #2 listening and questioning ©Kathryn Potter 2009
Listen well and speak well to your student. It's a great habbit to cultivate! Your job as an Oboe Brilliance mentor is to listen deeply, compassionately, and to guide the student towards self discovery via the art of oboe playing. This is aided by the art of asking questions instead of instructing all the time. Students, I believe, need to be heard and understood. Hearing them and understanding helps them hear and understand themselves better. It’s important to foster an air of discovery and encouragement through patient emotional safety while also being clearly directive and focused. Let’s say a student plays a phrase. You can ask the questions such as:- 1) What did you hear in the music itself? What did you hear in your playing? 2) What did you like about your playing? What do you like about this musical phrase? 3) What would you like to do better? How can you bring it to life more fully? 4) How can you do that? 5) What did you express? – How would you describe what you expressed? Was that your intention? 6) What’s a different way to play that? 7) How do feel when you hear it that way? 8) What can you express differently? And so on… Since each student is different, it makes sense to cater the questions that you feel the specific student is ready to answer. Listening patiently without interrupting or creating an air of impatience is extremely helpful in fostering the development of the highest musical ability in another as well as a positive student teacher relationship. Wanting to hear what the student is playing and saying is vital! Questions can be leading, or sincerely open. It’s your call as the teacher/mentor as long as the bottom line is respect for the individual musical voice as well as your own discretion of where you as the teacher draw the line for instructing/teaching/mentoring – see lesson one about the distinction of instructing/teaching/ mentoring. Listening deeply to the student’s atmosphere expressed via body language, tone of voice, musical expression, mental state, emotional state and energy will help you bring the student out to shine brighter musically. Being aware of all of the above about you is of course helpful! Being you consciously helps the student be him or herself more consciously.
Oboe Brilliance is a book I'm creating of solos and duets, plus chapters about musical artistry, technical elegance, mentoring, and philosophy for oboists day one up to virtuosic oboists.
As a flutist, I have been enjoying for many years the 12 Fantasias for solo flute by Telemann, and as a pianist and piano teacher, I've also been appreciating for many years the Bela Bartok Microcosmos series and Bach inventions plus other books of collected works by one composer per book. Also, as a former roommate to cellists and classical guitarists, I'm deeply inspired by how much cellists and guitarists cherish the solo material composed by Bach. I deeply love the music of Bach, and how much joy and inspiration it brings to individuals who play the music for years and decades privately for their own personal edification and fulfillment. I wish to create books for oboists to enjoy as much as others have enjoyed collections of solo works specifically for their instrument. I've played through many etude books for oboists. By the time I was 18 I'd been playing for 10 years, I played through Vade Mecum, Barret, Ferling, and others before that, and I still wasn't prepared for 20th century music, so I started composing my own etudes! Bruno Bartolotzi's book "New Sounds for Winds" was ... instrumental! That's how I started composing etudes for oboe. Over the years, I desired more, like gorgeous solos of all levels to enjoy that require no other musicians, like the music for harpsichord by Scarlotti, or music for violin, or piano, or cello by Bach, or piano music by Beethoven..., classical guitar by Villa Lobos and others. Now, after 17 years of teaching oboe, flute, and piano, I've seen more of what oboists of all ages like, need, and want, as well as being aware of what I wish to create for myself, and provide for my oboe students that they don't know is missing! I've been extrememly fortunate to have had the privelege to have studied with three of the top oboists of the 20th century (Lois Wann, Michael Winfield, Marc Liefschy)while I was a student as well of great unknown teachers (Peter Hertling, Peter Hedrick), and superb composers (Karel Husa, Ellie Armer). The teachings they have shared with me are so valuable. I wish to add to them, stir them up, and share them with the world to bring it all into the 21st century through new and original music I compose as well as in articles I write. As an oboe teacher, I have pillaged the flute and recorder repertoires (with great relish!) to provide fulfilling music for my students in addition to gorgeous oboe repertoire. I find the flute and recorder books for beginning musicians a lot juicier than the oboe books. I hope that flutists, violinists, recorder players, trumpeters and more will greatly enjoy Oboe Brilliance once it's done and available! ... tick tock tick.. I deeply wish to leave a legacy of a huge body of musical work for oboists to enjoy for many generations. All kinds of music - solos, duets of all kinds, trios, concerti, and a strong pedagogy to keep the artform evolving, juicy, alive and inspiring! This project has been slowly evolving over time as I've been maturing as an oboist, composer, and teacher. I have composed a lot of music, and care to compose much more. My heart is burning to give as much as I can. I yearn to do a great job and provide diverse, helpful, and inspiring music that is demanding, inspiring, fun, fulfilling and delightful! So, I'm working towards putting book 1 together. In time I fully intend to create a book 2 full of new works, including oboe trios and more. Musically Yours, Kathryn Potter
Oboe Brilliance: Mentoring Essay 1
Instructor, teacher, mentor appreciation © Kathryn Potter 2009 Humans are the only creature on earth that I know of whose survival is completely dependent on having teachers, and with that, within one generation, the human race can change drastically. We need teachers. There are three kinds of teachers: Instructor The job of an instructor is to clearly and accurately convey a system, tradition, and a specific way of doing something that the individual must comply and conform in order to do correctly. Martial arts are an excellent example of the important role of instructors. Teacher The job of a teacher is to guide the individual student into joyful discovery, learning knowledge, acquiring skill, mastering tasks, nurturing capability. There are many kinds of teachers. Mentor The job of a mentor is to help an individual student blossom into greater self awareness and self unfolding through patient nurturing and masterful teaching which partially incorporates both instruction and teaching. A mentor adapts teaching style to the student in order for the student to become as self realized as possible, sometimes through the focus of a specific form or medium such as music. All of the three kinds of teachers are an art form, and positively vitally important for the health and wellness of the human race, and the planet. Some things in life don’t require a teacher, but having one is probably better. Studying many instruments is like that. The oboe is not one of them. I tell people that an oboe student must have an oboe teacher! Putting an oboe in the hand of a child is like telling a 9 year old to do a cartwheel on the balance beam. Putting a flute in the hand of a child – for example – is like telling a 9 year old to do a cartwheel on a mat. I feel it’s advisable to make the oboe the first wind instrument of a child. If the child is too young to play the oboe, then singing and piano playing is better than playing another instrument involving the mouth. Many oboists are converters from other instruments, and that’s fine, but I feel strongly that it’s preferable to start with the oboe if that is the instrument of choice. I have heard the term “toxic pedagogy”. This is tragic and must be avoided at all costs. Music teachers historically are known for this, and is sometimes called “old school”, which is usually meant as a means of teaching that is a degraded form of instruction as a form of cold obedience which is not what makes great musicians – in the long run – and for our world at large. In order for a human being to be a great musician, much healing must take place after receiving a toxic musical education which is possible. The purpose of Oboe Brilliance essays is to foster the strongest, healthiest, most musical student teacher relationships possible for the most brilliant musical life journey. I owe Oboe Brilliance to the loving mentoring of Lois Wann, and Peter Hertling who raised me via the oboe. |
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