music camp

musicprnt
Wed, 14 Dec 2011 10:05:13 +0000

I think that given where D is with her playing, that a summer music camp can have some drawbacks:

-Some music festivals are not living, breathing music 24/7 and even ones that advertise an ‘intensive’ music experience may not be that despite the claim. Some festivals, for example, tend to have an experience that is more like summer camp that emphasizes music, but has all the traditional summer camp elements like swimming and games, etc. Nothing wrong with that, but if D is setting out to get some intensive lessons and music time in it may not work out for her. Some programs do offer the full ‘camp experience’ but also are intensive musically of course, but it takes care to find one.

More importantly, even at some of the music only festivals, the students, while pretty good musicians, often treat it as summer vacation and it can lead to an uneven experience if D is trying to ‘get serious’.

-More then a few of the music festivals I have heard about make claims like “students are required to practice X hours a day every day” and while that is what they say, they don’t enforce it and it can create an environment where students who are serious end up having a hard time due to distractions (this is personal experience with my S, plus from other parents with serious music students). Some places do, Meadowmount is famous for it, but others don’t.

-The level of teaching at these festivals is uneven, and it might have great Violin faculty and so-so cello faculty for example. The other issue is kind of a chicken and egg thing, the higher end faculty tend to be associated with festivals that admit higher end students…obviously, there are more open festivals that have great individual faculty, and if she is going to do a program it would be best IMO to choose one for its cello faculty first.

Obviously, if D is still unsure then a music program might help her decide. If so I would say from my perspective that she would need to try and find a program that is more 24/7 music, and also make it a short term/intense one or maybe even if there is a day program near where you live.

Overall,I have to agree with GH, it may be better for D to stay home and practice and bring her skills up then go to a program like this, as she has a lot of catching up to do. Book 8 of Suzuki if cello follows the violin model is not particularly high level and depending on the teacher, IME Suzuki teachers generally don’t focus on the technical details of playing the way traditional teachers do and therefore it is not unlikely your D has a lot of work to do on the details. I have to be honest, she faces a tough climb, cello is extremely competitive, at or near the top in the music hierarchy, and the level of young music students is incredibly high, it was shocking to us when our S entered that world and we saw what was out there and love of music, quite frankly, is not enough.

If she is thinking of pursuing this, here are my recommendations:

-You need to find a high level cello teacher in your area, if there is a college with a decent music program your D could potentially study with one of the faculty, or perhaps there is a local teacher who teaches at high level programs, etc. As others on here stress all the time, at all levels everything comes down to the teacher, and the teacher at the local music school is more likely then not to be what you have in Suzuki most of the time, teachers who are capable of teaching someone to play an instrument and enjoy it, but is not likely to be at the level to bring a student to the level they need to be to pursue music. I am sure there must be the equivalent of violinist.com for the cello, or perhaps post a message on here with your general location and ask if anyone knows of cello teachers in the area as potential fits.

The most important part is a high level teacher can assess your D’s abilities and see where she stands, if she has the potential to make a run and get into a decent music program. With music, that is incredibly important, it takes so much more then passion to make it in music, especially classical music, and while music programs at the college level turn out something like 15,000 graduates a year give or take, only a small fraction will find they can make it in music as a living. It is part of the reason that a standard line to potential music students is if you can see yourself doing anything else rather then music, you may want to pursue that.

-The old joke about how do you get to Carnegie Hall, “Practice, Practice, Practice” is very, very true (just for fun, the joke has a real genesis. Mischa Ellman, a famous violinist from the early to mid part of the last century, had been rehearsing with an orchestra at Carnegie Hall for a solo performance, and was unhappy the way it went, and was angrily walking down the street when he was stopped by a tourist couple [prob seeing the violin he was carrying] and asked him how to get to Carnegie Hall, and he snapped back “practice, practice, practice” and walked on)

Especially where you D is deciding relatively late, she is going to need to dedicate serious time to practicing. With top level strings players, it varies, but in general it is in the several hour range, I would say 2-4 hours a day is typical, some do much more. One of the things that makes it difficult on young high school music students is that this often conflicts with the crazy lives of kids these days, with all the stress on taking AP’s, having a ton of EC’s, etc, it can be hard to block out the time and quite frankly have the energy to practice after a long day at school, it is why there is a significant group of music students who homeschool or find schools willing to be flexible. You cannot as I have heard some parents suggest diddle along during the school year with an hour a day of practice, and ‘make up for it’ on vacations, weekends (which are usually tied up with all kinds of other events, soccer games, practice, etc) or during the summer, isn’t going to happen, part of the key to playing well is consistent practice time and habits. There are super kids who can do it all, but IME from talking to music parents and with our own child, that isn’t true for many or most kids…and given she is playing catch up, if you can afford it multiple lessons a week is not unheard of, it can help.

One thing for your D to think about is that love of music and playing doesn’t require you go into it professionally, she could still get a high level teacher and pursue the cello and do so as an amateur or semi professional. A lot of colleges have music lessons and playing opportunities available for non majors so she could have music in her life and after school, could still pursue it through lessons, practice and getting involved in amateur or semi professional music groups:)