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November 04th, 2012

11/4/2012

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I had a good reminder today via the misfortune of one of my former university students.

Just in case your flute or piccolo may be misplaced or stolen, you should jot down the make, model and serial number of your instruments.  Its very hard to lay claim to something that you can not positively identify.

Here's some guidelines:
1.  Call the police and file a report.  It may seem pointless at the time, but later you may be grateful that you established an official timeline.  Retain your copy of the report.  You may need the file number.
2.  Canvass the neighborhood.  Put up fliers, stick them under doors or on windshields.
3.  Offer a credible reward for a "No Questions Asked" safe return of your instrument(s).
4.  Check your homeowner's or renter's insurance policy.  If you have a policy, you may be covered for your loss.  In the future, you may want to list this as a line item on your insurance.  By the way, if you are a professional musician at any level and cannot claim status as a student, even if you list the instrument as a line item on your insurance, it probably is not covered.  You need to get instrument coverage under a separate policy.  Look at http://www.clarionins.com/.
5.  Go to every pawn shop in town.  Visit them on a weekly basis.  This is legwork that you will have to do on your own.  The police have plenty of other stuff to do.  If you happen to find your instrument, step outside the shop and call the police immediately.  Have a copy of your stolen property report.
6.  List your instrument as stolen on CraigsList as well as Larry Krantz's flutelist.

If you have some other experience or advice with the loss of your musical instrument, please resp

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November 04th, 2012

11/4/2012

1 Comment

 
Picture
Sadly, scales turn out to be the bane of most students existence.  Scale knowledge is used to gauge every audition in the academic musical world.  A colleague of ours, a local middle school band director, good old boy type put it succinctly when he said:  "Scales is music."  This statement may not be grammatically correct, however it is a salient and thoughtful point.  His words stick with me to this day.

Most, if not all music uses scales and arpeggios as its building blocks.   Thorough knowledge of all major, minor, modal, chromatic, blues, whole tone and diminished scales is very important to the progress of the student (and the teacher!).  

At my first semester freshman jury exam at Arizona State University, I was asked to play the B major scale.  For the life of me, I could not remember the key signature.  In a panic, I played the Bb major scale.  Interestingly enough, not one of the six faculty member committee looked up or gave comment.  Disgusted with myself (and the faculty), I went to a practice room immediately and spent several maniacal hours on scales.  I learned them upside downs and backwards.  I have never forgotten how that day changed my musicianship.


All-State is a prime example of the importance of scale knowledge.  Almost half of all possible points are dedicated to the chromatic scale, the major scales and arpeggios.  The students who make the All-State ensembles must be able to perform all them well, at a reasonable tempo, with a good tone and a sense of musicality.  That is the key to becoming competitive at the All-State level.


Bill

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