bigaggietrumpet

I think this is something I will force my little brother to read.

http://www.trumpetguild.org//itgyout...s/Vizzutti.htm

Tootsall

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. Did he ever nail it!

(Father of 4)

ScreaminTrumpet

That is without a doubt the best educational article I have read in quite some time. It really makes me reevaluate the reasons my students lack focus. Wow...that's all I can say.

trumpetpimp

Yeah, it was a good article...but it took so long to read.

[I hope the irony in wasn't left unappreciated. ]

Lazorphaze

I must say, he hit on the truth with most people.
I don't think most kids will appreciate the privileges they have right now, as they don't have to pay anything, and squander countless hours on computers!(this seems to be a growing trend in adults, too)
Now, some of you are thinking "What is he talking about? He doesn't know anything! He's just a kid! He spends all his day on the computer!" Well, while it is true that I spend way the hell too much time on the computer, I do know what I'm talking about.
First, there are some kids who go home and play video games for hours on end. Par exemple, the 2nd trumpet player in honors orchestra said to me,"Allright, I have no homework! I get to play Madden for 9 hours tonight!" I know he wasn't going to play for 9 hours, but the thing that got me was that he wasn't going to practice. Every so often, I talk to this trumpet player at UNT(Justin Bell) He kept harping on me that I spent too much time on the computer, and not enough practicing. This was in the summer, you understand. I probably practice more now than I do then, even though I have less time. Strange, no?
Second, I use AIM, and there are some people on there who go away from their computers and do not return for quite awhile(sometimes even days!) now, why would a parent allow a computer to waste energy while their child is off somewhere else? It boggles me.
The reason kids have short attention spans is because, like Vizutti said, classes are short and cut off suddenly, and commercials. In my eyes, TV is only available because of the mindless boobs who sit there, and go out to buy things in commercials. and just today, I was in the middle of a science lab, when the bell rings. Well, I had to clean up my whole group, since they up and left when it rang. Lucky for me, my next class was not far away.

Anyway, there's really no point to what I just said that I can see. I just wanted to get that out of my system.
Peace out,
LP

W Scott

Many of you will lose your ability to push through the difficult challenges due to lack of attention span, lack of purpose and lack of vision. ‘The Great Cyber Sponge’ will consume many of your minds. The ‘Mother of All Screens’ will draw some of you in and not let you go. Your TV will suck the energy out of your body and eat your personality. It doesn’t have to be that way.


Boy, did Allen Vizzutti ever hit the nail on the head. You youngsters need to go read this article............

Mikey

Wow

trickg

One of the things he said that really made sense to me was this:

" Most players will benefit from daily ‘chop time’ alone. "

When I was in High School, band was the first period of the day so I used to go in about a half hour prior to band practice and "warm up" which usually consisted of a little bit of actual warming up, and then just screwing around playing whatever I wanted to play.

Then, the first period after lunch was Show Choir/Jazz band (every other day, alternating MWF/T Th between the two classes.) I'd bolt down lunch and head back up to the band room to play for a bit before Jazz band or Show Choir, both of which I was in. Then Jazz band every other day.

Then, when school got out, I was back in the band room again, playing my horn.

Then there were pep bands and such, and sometimes, I even took my horn home during the week.

The point I'm trying to make with this, is that through that time, I continued to improve - my skills continued to climb at a steady rate, yet I really never practiced anything in a structured way. I just had the horn on my face all of the time, and during that phase of my life, it was more than enough. I benefitted beautifully from daily "chop time".

That's one of the things that amazes me with kids these days. They want to get better, but they are frustrated when they don't improve quickly, yet they only put in 30 - 60 minutes on the horn per WEEK! I was putting in hours every day. I can only imagine what it would have been like had I actually done some structured practicing.

Great article!

MUSICandCHARACTER

It was a great article. My son just bought two soundtrack CDs (he is almost 13). His friends buy and listen to rap. He is a star in the band, he bought, get this, Game Cube game soundtracks. Actually, the music is pretty good.

I agree with Patrick ... some kids screw around in band. Other really practice and excel. I love DCI and drum corps because it gives serious kids a place to play. The Marching Band world, being as competitive as it is, does some of the same thing.

My kid gets graded in band by how much he practices and by his performance in school. He must practice 150 minutes a week. That is five 30 minutes sessions. And he does it without complaining. He loves to play. His so called "peers" pick on him all the time because he doesn't spend hours playing "Halo 2". But he is a great euph player and a good student. He takes a little crap (but he never backs down).

I am going to have him read the article. Every kid should. So should every parent.

Jim

Lazorphaze

hm....makes me think I should practice so I can get REALLY GOOD. but that's what summer break and weekends are for....all though last week i did a ton of practicing.....i think like 6 hours....NOT ON TRUMPET!!
which is another thing.
If I have to play B's and A's in orchestra(above staff) and I don't practice between orchestra rehearsals(once a week), is that bad?