Process
I am looking forward to the many performance
opportunities for my classes in the upcoming recitals and assemblies this
Spring. However, this is not without some apprehension concerning
the expectations of the Santa Fe Waldorf community at these performances.
In order to alleviate some of the apprehension I am feeling I would like
to share some of my own notions regarding the purposes of the school performances.
These ideas are my own as they have been developed over many years of experience
both as a music student and teacher:
Although student recitals may be entertaining
they are never exclusively for that purpose. Of course, we always
try to create as “good” a performance as we can at our recitals, but they
also serve a greater use for classes by giving the students further motivation
to bring some work from class to completion. They are, therefore,
a means to an end, which is determined by educational goals, as opposed
to being an end in itself. Thus, my own choice of performance material
is mostly based “pedagogically” which, in this context, means what
would help the students learn to become better, more well-rounded, musicians.
The decision for which of the many pieces worked on in class should be
performed on a recital is best decided just prior to the performance.
In ideal circumstances the students may be involved in making this decision
when they can also participate in evaluating their own pedagogical needs.
These needs may be rather technical and will not always be apparent to
the audience. Working within the traditional parameters of what can
be considered “a good show” is a part of this process, but it must always
be balanced by the technical needs of the students. During
school performances students enjoy having opportunities to share their
good work with their parents, so this joy of sharing is also balanced with
learning which brings with it a feeling of accomplishment.
Performing music before an audience does provide
a needed focus for a music class and some anxiety about performing well
is useful and necessary. However, this is usually accompanied by
a secure feeling that the audience is composed of parents who are supportive
and will appreciate the great efforts their children are making no matter
how successful or unsuccessful the performance may be. Teachers should
feel free to take some risks for the sake of the students’ education.
If teachers do not feel comfortable taking any risks, they will most likely
be compelled to spend all of the time in the classroom, between performances,
working only on what will be performed on the next recital. They
would also choose to perform only the pieces which are relatively easy
for the students and offer no challenge. The music teachers in the
Waldorf program presently provide a successful measure of rigor which generally
satisfies the needs of all the students in the program, from the most advanced
to the least experienced. I personally attempt to expose my students
to as many styles and means to make music that are possible, from Indian
to African, from classical to jazz. I try to have my students practice
reading music as much as possible by having them play several pieces and
polishing them only just before a recital. (This is similar to teaching
children to read many books as opposed to memorizing only a few stories.)
Music students then learn a language of music which relates in a very beautiful
way to what they also create through improvisation. One of art’s
greatest values is the freedom of expression it offers. A language
must be learned through technique in order to acquire access to a musical
means of expression. The language is learned through the process
of learning to play an instrument, reading music and improvising.
Reading music gives a student access to the written creations of composers
from the middle ages to the present day. Improvisation gives a student
access to what is already within their own being.
We must always remind ourselves that these
performers are students and not touring professionals. Our
experiences attending professional performances certainly do influence
the way we judge student performances, but an audience attending a student
performance must be much more broad-minded. These performances are
more about demonstrating a process of becoming rather than being the products
of a polished expertise. (This is especially true for the presentations
of the rather process-oriented art form of Eurhythmy.) Therefore,
the success or failure of a performance does not reflect the quality or
direction of the program as a whole, but really only serves the needs of
the moment.
The ensembles at the Santa Fe Waldorf School
are unique in that they are relatively large for such a small school and
are composed of musicians from a wide range of experience and ability.
Students begin playing woodwinds two years later than they do in the public
school yet, by the end of the program, most of them would be valued players
when entering a public high school band program. Our strings program
is unique and, therefore, cannot be compared to any other program
in this area. No other public or private school in this area even
has a strings program and, therefore, the Santa Fe Waldorf School provides
a very necessary service to the Santa Fe community. Both the local
Suzuki program and the Santa Fe Youth Symphony are made up of students
who have come into these programs voluntarily with lots of parental support.
Many of our best students are involved with those programs. However,
not all of them are and our challenge is to continue stimulating the interest
of those who are excelling on their instruments while retaining the involvement
of those who are not as motivated to develop their abilities.
I have had considerable experience teaching
in large public school music programs in the Dallas area and have seen
some that are stronger than ours. However, the strength of those
programs come mainly from the number of students enrolled. The best
bands and orchestras are those which have so many members that they are
able to have auditions from which an elite group may be chosen to be part
of the ensemble which represents the school in contests and performances.
However, even in a large city like Dallas, the private schools do not have
this “luxury.” (I put “luxury” in quotes because most parents who
are attracted to Waldorf schools believe that the arts are not a luxury.)
I do not expect everyone in our program to
continue with their study of music, but all of them will benefit from the
discipline of learning to play a musical instrument in ways which carry
over into other fields of study. Playing music is an integrated brain
activity which involves rigorous analysis as well as emotional expression.
Therefore, learning to read and/or improvise music can reveal a great deal
of information concerning a student’s learning style. Waldorf schools
continue to lead all other schools in the country for integrating arts
into the curriculum. This is especially so now after we have seen
so many cuts in funding in public education which caused many schools to
provide no arts education at all for their students.
I believe that the Santa Fe Waldorf School
is particularly blessed with a well-qualified and dedicated staff of music
teachers. Santa Fe does seem to attract some artists and musicians
who have had very impressive careers in other lands and some of these have
kindly offered their services to our school. I hope that we can continue
to count on the parents’ support of of these musicians’ efforts who have
helped create the best school music program available for their children
in Santa Fe. All of the instrumental teachers who teach at
the Santa Fe Waldorf School also teach students outside of the Waldorf
program ranging from beginners to advanced college students and adults.
All have very diverse teaching and performing experiences which have helped
them find (and even create) the best methods and pedagogies for each of
their students’ unique learning styles.
Parental feedback from performances is valuable
especially when it is positive and supportive of the process of teaching
and learning. Often, when children claim a performance has not gone
well, they may be actually seeking supportive comments from their parents.
I actually try to teach my students to be outwardly very positive when
discussing their performances with others because this influences how others
will remember it. However, the ability to project this sort of confidence
must be learned from their many positive performance experiences and parents’
positive feedback is vital to this process.
Dr. Robert H. Price,
Music Coordinator