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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 |
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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