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My next question is, which is more important: facility in reading any music vocally, or facility in reading at the harp? I suspect it is reading at the harp that is more important, because of the coordination involved. Sight-singing is perhaps a separate skill altogether.
The simple ethics of advertising are these: honor what you say you offer, for the amount you offer. Honesty is expected and more-or-less required by consumer protection laws. Some tactics businesses commonly use are bait-and-switch, where one product is advertised at a low price to get you into their store, then they only have a more expensive one to offer. Another is to simply not have the product at all, say it’s on order, or take an order and never get it. I will think of more examples later.
Advertising is one way to notify others of your services. It is also not necessarily effective. In the many years I have advertised in the American Harp Journal, not one student has come as a result of the ads, so they are not as useful as one might think. The internet has indeed become a primary means of communication, and these open forums facilitate connections between prospective students and teachers (prospective meaning those who are looking, or thinking about the future). Locally, word of mouth might be as important, or in other circumstances, such as when a student is graduating and their teacher is recommending who they go on to.
I have known too many unethical harpists in New York to be automatically impressed by their opinions. It was the most dog-eat-dog, nasty, crooked environment I ever encountered. While it may foster a desire for ethics, there are not that many who seem to practice them.
I have learned to accept the changes in communications, and that the internet is a primary source of information, even in classical music. If this were a moderated, restricted forum with specific rules it would be different. I will mind myself more carefully, but sometimes I am sleepy and unmindful of what I suggest to posters here. I am highly aware of ethics, having been raised in an ethical system and also studied it in college. I have had a student who went to another teacher while studying with me, so I know how that feels, and I don’t take students who are currently with other teachers. However, that is up to the student, and up to teachers to inform them as to their behavior.
Advertising is very expensive,
The Sonatinas and Sonatas are completely different. There are no public domain editions, they have to be purchased from dealers, which supports the publishers so they can publish more music. Many historic pieces are in hard-to-reach libraries in Europe, and it is not so easy to walk in and ask for a photocopy. Plus, they are often very hard to read. There are two editions of the Sonatinas, one by Lawrence, published by Lyra, which is considered standard, and one published in Europe, that is meant to be urtext, but has errors and unstylistic ornamentation. I have both, and will combine them to make my own interpretation the next time I perform the Sonatinas. There are two editions of one Sonata, again one Lyra, and one European. The others have only one edition. There is one that is a transcription of a concerto by Jarnovich by Sophia Dussek, I think, that is completely different. I think the Sonatinas are the most interesting, and the Sonata in C Minor, which I consider to be by Jan Dussek as published. The others vary in interest, are somewhat lighter in style, less
I wouldn’t call that fishing, either, but there’s nothing wrong with fishing, if you’re trying to catch fish. How else to get fish? They don’t jump in your lap, usually. Anyhow, these are open forums. But, here, I’ll make a statement that is clear cut, and not baited in any way: I love to teach, and
If anyone can do it, you can. The harp only needs five hours a day to practice, at most, and the voice probably no more than two, plus studying texts. You could vocalise for an hour in the morning, practice harp for two-and-a-half hours, have lunch, a nap, sing for an hour, do another two-and-a-half hours of harp, then call it a day. It doesn’t leave a lot of time for networking, but if you have management to handle that, it could work. I would love to see you play the solo from Lucia then sing the aria. I think it would be a tremendous attraction. How is your voice? Does it have an exceptional color? There are an awful lot of sopranos out there. Or is it in a special fach? You could always do a night club act with singing and the harp, or specialty concerts. Yes, it could be done.
I always look at the American Harp Journal’s ad listings for teachers. Not everyone has websites, but they are certainly useful to look at those who do. I wouldn’t rely only on the internet. It is only as helpful as what you find, and if you don’t use other resources as well, it can become a hindrance. I found my graduate teacher through her publications, and a poster for Tanglewood that was posted at my college.
You mentioned that once before, Sam. How does one fish for students on this site, and why is it unethical? And what bait does one use?
Sure, Vince, I just wanted to address the extreme examples of what you mentioned. When I was just starting out, I took rather too much interest in some of my students’ lives and it did not help things in the end.
I feel that some of your expectations are a little unrealistic. A teacher may care about their student, but, mostly must stay out of their personal lives. It can get very messy. We are only there to teach music, and don’t see the whole person or life story. It is easy to slip down the road of giving personal advice, but it should not necessarily be encouraged, just like with parents. It is not possible to know all about a teacher, and especially their personality. The teacher’s personal life is not so much part of their teaching, but if you start opening those doors, then it can become too much part of it.
The internet doesn’t really change anything. It is the teacher’s musical personality that matters most, their knowledge, artistry, talent, willingness to give. Many of the best people I know do not have recordings. Lucile Lawrence only made one solo recording in her life, for pedagogical or preservational purposes. Word of mouth is still important.
As for repertoire choices, it depends on whether the teacher has
First you have to establish what absolute dynamics are: a fully forceful fortississimo, a fiercely fibrillating fortissimo, a fulsome forte, a
I keep forgetting the exact name, but the Rocky Mountain Summer Music Camp may be the perfect place. Did you look at Brevard and Eastern Music Festival?
Yes, and I remembered that one of the reasons it was a big deal to study with this teacher or that teacher is their network of contacts and former students, and whose network is stronger or more helpful to the next student.
