I Rule My World!

The coming days will run high with Suzuki activities for me, and for the many kids, parents, and teachers that are "hung up" on the program as well. All those involved seem to be excited at the up and coming Asia Suzuki Conference which is to be held for the first time here in the Philippines. Those who are not familiar with the Suzuki method might mistake it for a Japanese brand of motorcycle or an automobile of some sort. While the Japanese part is correct, Mr. Shinichi Suzuki is the founder of the Mother Tongue Approach that hones the child’s innate abilities in music, thus we call it the "Suzuki Method".
Just hours ago, I felt like my arm would take the life out of me for accompanying the fifty plus violin students of Teacher Homer. I have been assisting them since the Book 8 kids were in Book 2, and have seen them grow and mature on their quest for good music. I marvel at Mr. Suzuki’s discovery of this method and I get excited with the kids’ achievements. Tomorrow, these little violinists will perform at the newest and biggest mall in town, the Mall of Asia. Music performed at concert halls will be brought to the malls to better educate the people on the wonders of classical music, and mainly to have a real good time!
Then on Thursday, the buzz of activities will be unstoppable–master classes, teacher training, parent lectures, rehearsals, and concerts will thus be my daily bread. All of these and more until Monday. So I will have to temporarily say goodbye to piano lessons, Amba rehearsals, alto sectionals, organ practice, watching LOST and blogging. Hopefully, I am a better teacher and musician when I come back.

Recently, a mother
pulled out her kids from my tutelage. The reason? I was too much of a
perfectionist. She added that her kids are still too young for such a tedious
job of repeating the same pieces over and over just because it’s not perfect,
and that I should cut them some slack; thus the pull-out.

How I wish she said
this to me right spat on my face because I would have explained that to acquire
a skill (especially in music, and most especially while the foundation is being
laid out), one has to be a "perfectionist". She blames her kids instead for not practicing,
and she is just tired of making them practice, or so she tells me. But you know
how birds fly around and pick gossip-coated worms, and I happen to find one
such bird sitting on my porch one morning.

Since I am not
given the privilege to explain myself to her, I am sending out my own birds
with their wisdom-coated worms, not just to her, but to all the parents who
want their kids to take music lessons (particularly, piano):

1. Look for a teacher that insists on
        perfection. What have you got to lose anyway? Each of these children got
        minds like clean slates. As a piano teacher, it is my duty to train the
        kids to play correctly. And I will make them play their pieces over and
        over again until they get it right!  Perfection doesn’t mean it has to be Carnegie stuff and all that (then again, why not?), but they have to play a piece to the point of perfection (correct posture, correct notes, correct rhythm!). I was given the responsibility in
        “writing something” on their “slates”, and so whatever I write will have
        to be correct.
2. Know the program very well before you
        enroll your kids. Some teachers teach by the traditional method, and some
        are into specialized methods, like the Suzuki Mother Tongue Approach. I
        use the latter. Those who have been in (or out) of this program would know
        very well that success in piano-playing just doesn’t lie in the hands of
        the teacher and the student, but from the parents as well. At the
        beginning of the term, I would remind (warn, rather) that for their piano
        lessons to achieve maximum success, the parents would have to be there all
        the way—piano classes, recitals, and most especially home practice.
3. Be sure your kids are REALLY interested
        to take piano lessons. Don’t force them into something they don’t really
        want to do. If they don’t like it and you force them, and then they later
        learn to like it then lucky for you. But kids who like what they do
        obviously learn faster.
4. If and when they are into the program,
        don’t compare your kids with the other kids. Or at least don’t let them
        hear your judgmental ranting. Your child is different from the others and
        so don’t gauge their level of success with what the other kids have or
        have not achieved.
5. Show enthusiasm for the little things
        they achieve during practice and/or lessons. Piano teachers are NOT baby
        sitters who will keep your kids entertained for a half hour while you yak
        away on your phone, or while you’re out to a parlor to get your hair and
        nails done. When you come to piano lessons with your kids, you are taking
        the class as if you are the student. Be sure to absorb most of the
        instruction because your kid is bound to forget them.

That being said, I hope that parents will begin to see that when I teach your kid, I mean business. I will not slack off, or lower my standard of perfection because I believe that your kid can reach that level (and several kids already have!). And please, if something bothers you, then at least take the time to talk to me personally–don’t send off birds early in the morning!

To pianists, organists, and other instrumentalists: Has Ruth Spelke work for you some time in the past? If not, then permit me to give you her bio…which had been unwittingly found from the program notes on an unidentified (and probably wants to remain as such) piano recital.

Tonight’s page turner, Ruth Spelke, studied under Ivan Schmertnick at the Boris Nitsky School of Page Turning in Philadelphia. She has been turning pages here and abroad for many years for some of the world’s leading pianists.

In 1988, Ms. Spelke won the Wilson Page Turning Scholarship, which sent her to Israel to study page turning from left to right. She is winner of the 1984 Rimsky Korsakov Flight of the Bumblebee Prestissimo Medal, having turned 47 pages in an unprecedented 32 seconds. She was also a 1983 silver medalist at the Klutz Musical Page Pickup Competition: contestants retrieve and rearrange a musical score dropped from a Yamaha. Ms. Spelke excelled in "grace, swiftness, and especially poise."

For techniques, Ms. Spelke performs both the finger-licking and the bent-page corner methods. She works from a standard left bench position, and is the originator of the dipped-elbow page snatch, a style used to avoid obscuring the pianist’s view of the music. She is page turner in residence in Fairfield Iowa, where she occupies the coveted Alfred Hitchcock Chair at the Fairfield Page Turning Institute.

Ms. Spelke is married, and has a nice house on a lake.

Comments: She may not have been working for me, but I have experienced page turners with the same "intimidating" bio as hers. Man, i just wanna hit them with the music sheet!!!

(Credit: Miracle Romano’s Bulletin Board post)

Flashback: Thirty days ago, I received a termination letter from the Human Relations Office of the university where I work. No warnings or whatsoever. Just a simple, authoritative letter saying that I was hereby officially "out-of-job".The first moment I read it–I couldn’t really make any sense out of it. Why would I be terminated? First, I have not been into any illegal stuff regarding my job. Second, How can they terminate my contract when I have not even signed any contract from the moment I started my job? The letter did not bear any reason as to why I have to discontinue my services. It just simply stated that I was being formally terminated (formally?!? Duh!), and if ever interested to work for them again should I secure the recommendation of my immediate boss. The next day, I received my contract dated November 16th, stating that my job started at that date and expires on March 31, and was stated again that should I need to renew this contract, I need to sign it, and give it to the Human Relations Office, attached with my boss’ recommendation. I did not sign it. Why should I? It all doesn’t make sense. Who gets a termination letter, stating that the contract expires in a few days…then gets the mentioned contract the next day dated five months late!?! Well, I DID!!! To add insult to injury, I have been on this job since June, and that was like more than 10 months ago! Then I realized I was not alone. There was a sudden termination epidemic in this great university. A lot of the workers were shocked. Had the Human Relations Department suddenly went nuts? Finally, through a not-so official explanation (the result of seeking out a lot of opinions), the "greeting card" aka termination letter we received was just a formality, and that all they needed was that the workers (part-time, probational, etc., except the regulars) come with concrete contracts, and that it was just a fire and rehire tactic, and that it does not really pose a problem if our immediate bosses give us the necessary recommendations. Okay, okay, I get it! But what really bothers me is that they gave me a contract after all that’s been said and done, with the wrong dates, and omitting the first five months I worked for them. Why would they do that? Hmmm…SOMETHING here just STINKS big time!

If there would be one special day in a week that any Christian looks forward to, that would be his day of worship. In my case, as a Seventh Day Adventist, it would be the Sabbath or Saturday. This special day is observed starting from the sunset of Friday until the sun sets the next day.
Since childhood, I have been reminded all the time of its peculiarity through a sudden change of daily routine–all the clothes I would be using for the series of church activities I would attend should already be ironed and ready come Friday afternoon, religious music would be the only music to listen to–adding to the sacred air, and food is extra special.
However, as I mature with age and experience, I have had many Sabbaths away from home, and have tasted the variety of celebrating this day. There was a time when I climbed a mountain or the top of a falls, then a time when my choir rehearsed with an orchestra in another denominational church, and yet another time when we traveled to China. What’s wrong with that, you ask? I say, I don’t know, but I have been trained to think that the Sabbath is supposed to be spent in the church or outside it, but doing Christian duties. (While you may argue that Christian duties are supposed to be done not only on his day of worship, but during the whole time he exists, I would most probably agree with you, then again that is not the crux of the matter).
Through the numerous SDA people I’ve met, there were many times when my opinion of the Sabbath had been tested. For one thing, if you are a serious SDA (or even if not), what do you think about eating out on a Sabbath day? You spend the Sabbath School and Divine Worship, getting spiritual refreshment and then you go to a restaurant somewhere and eat there.
Some people I asked told me that there is nothing wrong with it because you are nourishing yourself with food, and your body needs food. But do we really have to eat out when our tables abound with food already? What is the purpose of the Sabbath, anyway, and does it agree with the purpose of eating out when we don’t really need to go? Isn’t the Sabbath supposed to be spent more in feeding ourselves spiritually rather than physically? While we can go to restaurants on any given day, isn’t the Sabbath supposed to be set aside doing things we don’t usually do on common days?
What do you think?