Teacher Help!!!!

Jam_Man_Tpt · Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2003 12:39 pm Post subject:

I am now a freshman in college and my trumpet professor is one of those guys who thinks Bill Adam's approach is just ridiculous. He just "warned" me about the teachings and a former Adam student who is a professor at a major university. I have been taught the Adam approach and I have been using it for over 3 years now. What should I do?
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Ben Love
Trumpet: Bach Strad Model 25
Mouthpieces: Bach Mega Tone 3C
Marcinkiewicz E12.4 Ingram

Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
-Epsilon Gamma

"Once a Sinfonian, Always a Sinfonian, Long Live Sinfonia!!!"

robert_white · Heavyweight Member Joined: 19 Feb 2003 Posts: 1583

How come it's only now that this conflict has come about? Didn't your new teacher know who you studied with prior to going to college? Didn't he ask you about any of this stuff when you auditioned? Seems weird that he'd accept you knowing you studied with an Adam student and then suddenly spring this on you. It's too bad, though.

Anyway, I guess all you can do is talk openly with your teacher about why he feels this way. Maybe with more information about his conceptions regarding Mr. Adam's teachings, it would be easier for PH or whomever to give you advice. In the meantime, I'd advise you to not burn a bridge by being defiant or insubordinate. Use communication to sort this out!

Best of luck, Ben.

Bob

[ This Message was edited by: robert_white on 2003-10-01 19:31 ]

Jam_Man_Tpt · Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2003 4:59 pm Post subject:

Bob,
The professor is new at the university. He wasn't hired until this summer. I auditioned in the spring. He left in the dark about his students. What is really unfortunate is that he is the only professor that gives trumpet lessons.
_________________
Ben Love
Trumpet: Bach Strad Model 25
Mouthpieces: Bach Mega Tone 3C
Marcinkiewicz E12.4 Ingram

Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
-Epsilon Gamma

"Once a Sinfonian, Always a Sinfonian, Long Live Sinfonia!!!"

trumpeterb · Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2003 5:05 pm Post subject:

Just curious, but what all is involved in the Bill Adam's approach? I am unfamiliar with that approach.

Clarion Wind · Veteran Member Joined: 23 Jun 2003 Posts: 141

Either give up on the Adam philosophy for the most part, or transfer schools as fast as humanly possible. If you are just going to take you trumpet professor lightly because he conflicts with you, you will accomplish zero in college, jeopardize your career, and spend a lot of money on nothing. How could you not take your trumpet teacher lightly if you beleive in something and he beleives the opposite. You would be forced to not take what he says seriously. You kinda got screwed, but that is life. I transferred, it is not a terribly big deal.

redface · Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2003 1:11 am Post subject:

Why not try his approach for the first month. Drop all the Adam from your routine. Do everything his way.
Then assess your progress after this month. If there is anything that has dropped in standard, which would benefit from the Adam exercises then sneak them back into your routine. If not keep going. This way the worst that can happen is your playing standard will drop (but you will know why it has and so can remedy) and the best that can happen is your playing goes to a completely new level. Either way you will learn which way of practicing works best for you.

When I got to college there were lots of things I was told to do differently, I just rolled with it, and it worked. At the college one teacher taught lots of Stamp, one taught almost exclusively from Arban, one taught lots of Claude Gordon, one taught lots of Chas Colin Exercises etc - they ALL produced good players. There are lots of ways to play the trumpet very well.

PH · Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2003 6:06 am Post subject:

Ben,

Email me off the site. This kind of problem happens all the time, and not just with pro-Adam & anti-Adam teachers/students. It happens to Caruso folks and Reinhardt folks and Stamp folks....

You have a decision to make. The sooner you make it the better off you'll be.

As Mr. Adam once told me, "If you put one foot in one row boat and the other foot in a different row boat you're likely to find your a$$ in deep water quickly!"

bstrd · New Member Joined: 01 Oct 2003 Posts: 1 Location: KC area

Ben,
I'm sorry this has happened to you. It is an unfortunate set of circumstances. I agree with the boat analogy. If you abandon the philosophy that you believe in, the method with which you've built your foundation, you run the risk of doing a great deal of damage to yourself as a player. If you decide that you want to continue in this aproach, you will need to seek a program and teacher that will cultivate a nurturing learning environment and provide direction to you which will not force you to change your philosophy, but in stead help in solidifying it. Those places and teachers do exist throughout the country. Since this can't happen over night though, you have to take what you can from your current situation and not get "screwed up". You've obviusly studied prior to this year if you've been in the Adam Method for three years, so if something in particular seems foreign or weird, run it by a trusted former teacher. It's not only acceptable for you to think for yourself, it should be expected. Best of luck.
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