Posted by susan on May 10, 1999 at 14:21:59:
In Reply to: Re: Mr. Sanders, you should be getting some sleep!! posted by David Sanders on May 10, 1999 at 06:46:31:
: Starker has been very kind to many 100's of cellists that he has been envolved with.
: I won't deny that he can also be a bit abrupt at times!
: David Sanders
I think the debate about "mean" teachers vs."nice" teachers is an interesting one.
I think there's a real difference between being ferocious-- some people yell, and stomp, and carry on, and it's just their natural enthusiasm for the music. It's hard to get used to, especially at first, but then you realise that they're just so enthusiastic about the music that they can just jump out of their seats without thinking about it.
Then there are the people who are totally reserved and quiet, and they can be even more disconcerting, because of our american culture that expects "service with a smile."
Sometimes it's a really good signal to stop thinking so much about the personal side of things, and really focus on what the teacher is trying to say about the music.
I think there's definitely a line to be drawn somewhere, though, and it probobly falls in different places for different people.
I was playing a Beethoven sonata in an accompanying class a couple of weeks ago, and the teacher was telling us how to get our drastic crescendos with pps at the end. I tried the passage once and the teacher literally leapt out of his chair with violent arm gestures, and roared something about how it was precicely wrong.
It was a little bit surprising, to say the least, especially since the teacher was sitting about a foot away from me to begin with, and he has a very loud voice.
But I wasn't really phased, after that first adreniline rush died back, because he was just carried away about the music. If he had started in on me, personally, I think it would have been a different story.
I've always been really curious about Starker, whether he's mean or just ferocious. There must be a reason why he's devoted so much of his life to teaching, and the idealistic side of me says that he probobly really cares about it. YoYo Ma has put his energy elsewhere.
I have the world's most ferocious Music Theory teacher, and underneath her incredible front is somebody who has made teaching music theory her life(although, one might wonder at anyone who loves theory that much)
What do other people think?
And what kind is Starker?