How Do You Know When It's Good?

 

I am thinking about my students today, as well as all those brave darlings across the country who are about to audition for their high school All-State. From a young age, we are expected to make decent judgement calls about our playing: "good enough" to speed up the metronome, to bring it to solo and ensemble contest, to play it for your audition, to put it away for the night and work on math homework, etc. etc. A lot of times this topic is not directly addressed by teachers, so students must glean meaning from the breadcrumbs we leave: things we say, sounds we model, or when we "move on" in a lesson or rehearsal. I can remember wondering if I was playing an etude "right" in high school because I lacked the confidence to judge for myself, and when my flute teacher would assign me a new one for the following lesson, I would think "I did it"! only later to discover I was playing wrong notes, a wrong rhythm. Did she not catch it? Was she just so fed up that she couldn't listen to it another week?  Totally human reactions, and I'm sure she had no idea that she was sending me the wrong message. I learn from my current students about the miseducative (John Dewey, look it up!) experiences their previous teachers might have created for them by, for instance, only rewarding fast technique and not mentioning miserable tone. So, I'm trying out a little checklist with my students and thought I'd share. I would love your suggestions for improving this list as well! Leave a comment below or on your favorite social media platform. ; )

Am I Done? A Self-Assessment Tool 

(Of course you're never done making it more interesting, but that's an existential journey for another day.)

Level 1: Basic ("Just the facts, ma'am")

Are the following entirely correct, 100% of the time?

1. rhythms

2. pitches

3. tempo (if one isn't specified, find 3 professional recordings and get the average)

4. dynamics

Level 2: Mastering Your Instrument

Are you nailing these skills on your instrument 100% of the time?

1. clean technique (no involuntary "flams" between notes)

2. beautiful / meaningful / whatever the music calls for tone

3. beautiful / meaningful / whatever the music calls for vibrato (please, for the love of Buddha, don't give yourself a gold star unless you are changing depth and speed to match your dynamics, at the very least)

4. accurate pitch (not a personal opinion, but what your tuner app tells you)

Level 3: Musician Status Achieved!

Have you

1. identified a goal note in each phrase and mapped out how the phrases interact with each other?

2. planned all breaths, tone colors, and vibrato depths/speeds to clearly communicate your phrases?

3. created a unique story for the piece that is meaningful to you as the storyteller (if absolute music) or researched the composer's intended story (if programmatic music) and plotted the details of said story into the music?

For a young student, completing Levels 1 & 2 will be a great challenge and is often enough to assure your victory in auditions and competitions. But try to reach for Level 3 every time, anyway! We are not meant to sound like robots, so it is imperative that we try to engage at all three levels when we play our instruments. Listening to lots of compelling professional recordings, of any music you love, will certainly help. As we mature, Level 3 will become mandatory.