Caruso for beginners

[derekph]

I teach trumpet as a day job. I've been doing it for about 2 and a half or 3 years. I introduce some of the Caruso stuff to the lessons, but I fear, especially for the young ones, that the exercises are too boring for them.
So I have two questions: one, should I even try this stuff with beginners, and two, what can I do or say to make it exciting for them enough to practice the exercises?
Thanks in advance.

[_bugleboy]

This is a good question and one I have no answer for. Beginners can truly benefit immensely from Caruso but it's true that it isn't much fun. The many pros who employed Caruso techniques back in the 50s, 60s and into the 70s did the stuff because for many it was seemingly their last chance. They had tried everything else and nothing worked. they were therefore willing to try anything, no matter how boring and unusual. Once the results started to become known, everything changed. Players started using the techniques to improve skills that were already pretty good.

But how to get beginners interested? I really can't think of much, but here are three ideas.

1. Tell them that this is what the pros do
2. Tell them that they will be able to do things that the other kids won't
3. Maybe not too much stuff too soon. For real young students, let them ease into it slowly.

There just isn't any way to make calisthenics exciting.

[derekph]

Thanks Charles. Good thoughts. I guess it's a constant struggle with beginners to keep them interested in whatever we do. Playing the trumpet isn't like playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater.

[_Don Herman]

If they understand the need for a warmup, treat it as a warmup and gradually increase the amount of the routine they do as a "warmup". Eventually they'll figure out they're really practicing, not warming up, but what the heck! Should get them through the six notes plus an interval and another study.

Charles, if we had to do a five to ten minute routine daily (no more), would it change your suggested lineup any?

HTH - Don
_________________
Don Herman/Monument, CO
"After silence, that which best expresses the inexpressible, is music." - Aldous Huxley

[_bugleboy]

Five to ten minutes a day would be,

Six Notes
Regular Seconds
Harmonics

[PH]

Those three exercises would revolutionize their playing in short order.

I just gave Six Notes & Seconds to a group of students here in the UK and I told them afterward that they should copy down my email address and the URL of this board so they can thank me publicly after their life has been changed ever so dramatically by adding 5 minutes of CC calisthenics to every day's playing.

Doing more calisthenics than this would be great (eventually), but this 5-10 minutes of stuff added to whatever you are doing now would be plenty to completely transform your approach to playing.

I doubt that any other 10 minute activity could do that (with the possible exception of prayer).

[4Him]

Re: Teaching Kids....

I make no claims to expertise in the Caruso method, but I spent a lot of my career working with children in the classroom. My advice--

More and more, kids are being taught to be goal oriented. Those that aren't, need to have someone guide them in that direction. This means, in terms of teaching:

1. Set concrete targets for performance. Let them see and hear what it will sound like and look like when they reach those targets. In essence, give them a personal vision and keep it in front of them.
2. Establish timelines (reasonable ones) and monitor regularly how they are doing in terms of meeting the targets on the timeline.
3. FOCUS ON IMPROVEMENT-- kids are easily discouraged. Recognize and celebrate incremental improvements. This may mean adjusting timelines and that is OK. By celebrating improvements, you have opened the door to pointing out the next high leverage opportunity for improvement.
4. In terms of the boredom of some beneficial exercises-- help them understand the relationship between work and long-term results (would our world be a better place if we all understood this concept a little better?). Excellence is a product of many well managed processes. Those processes standing alone don't necessarily represent achievement. The sum of those processes, however, can be beautiful thing. In kid lingo, the individual pieces of a puzzle don't look like much. When all of the pieces are put together, the picture is complete. Putting those pieces together took some time, and sometimes it was frustrating, but it sure feels great to see the final product.

Many times people view this approach to teaching children too similar to a business model. Well, if it is, have we done them a dis-service? How many employers wouldn't love to hire a young graduate that understands process management and results orientation!

I hope this helps you as you work with students.

Ken

[ This Message was edited by: 4Him on 2002-08-01 08:44 ]

[derekph]

Thanks Forhim. I'll try to start those things today when I teach.

[_bugleboy]

Ken,

Your post is very insightful and appropriate for teaching kids, or anyone for that matter. So many great points. There is a problem, however, with applying these principles to the Caruso approach.

It is fundamental in Caruso to NOT be result conscious. It is also fundamental in Caruso to NOT be concerned with the way things look and sound. There is certainly the goal to improve, but the trip along that road of improvement (with Caruso) is a little different from other approaches.

4H: 1. Set concrete targets for performance. Let them see and hear what it will sound like and look like when they reach those targets. In essence, give them a personal vision and keep it in front of them.

CR: There is no target when doing a Caruso calisthenic other than to follow the Four Rules which directs the student to basically tap his foot, blow the air and disregard all other things musical. There is no playing target (as in a certain note to be able to reach). To put an advanced look and sound (by way of an advanced Caruso player) in front of a beginning or intermediate Caruso student would be to defeat the whole process, because what is most probably the "right" look and sound for a student at any particular stage of advancement is NOT the look and sound that a more advanced Caruso player would have. A vision of the end result becomes counterproductive if the student in any way tries to implement characteristics of that vision into his Caruso practice. It sounds crazy, and it took me a couple of years to grasp this principle, but that's the way Caruso works. For best results, all things musical and visual, except time and rhythm, are totally ignored.

4H: 2. Establish timelines (reasonable ones) and monitor regularly how they are doing in terms of meeting the targets on the timeline.

CR: The worst thing to establish for a Caruso student is a timeline (in this case there wouldn't even be any reasonable ones). Everyone will progress at THEIR own speed and any timeline assigned to the level of proficiency a student should or should not have (doing the calisthenics) will be counterproductive and would actually derail the whole process. If a student thinks that he SHOULD be able to perform at a certain level to be "normal," then he will start to manipulate to reach that predetermined goal or timeline if it isn't coming naturally, i.e., if it isn't coming about strictly due to the Caruso exposure. This will be very destructive to the Caruso goals. No. The student must always know that however it sounds or looks, it is exactly the way it SHOULD sound and look for him, at that stage. And there is absolutely no way to predetermine how it will look and sound 2, 5, 10 years down the road. Plus it isn't relevant anyway.

A good Caruso teacher is able to assign specific exercises that can nudge a students embouchure if it appears that the student needs this in conjunction with the other drills that are being practiced in order to progress at the fastest possible. The general purpose of a teacher is to help a student progress faster than he could on his own. A teacher saves the student the time it would take him to learn something on his own. This is probably the case for 90% (not scientifically determined) of all students a teacher has. It's the other 10% that require the special skills and knowledge of a teacher like Mr. Caruso. This gets complicated, but it is where Carmine Caruso excelled and the reason he could help ANYONE improve. For 30 plus years, the only students Caruso got were the 10%ers from all the other teachers. And he found a way to help every one that studied with him. Caruso students, like myself, can only hope to offer limited help in this category.

4H: 3. FOCUS ON IMPROVEMENT-- ...............

CR: Only to the extent of the employment of the Four Rules. The student can be directed to subdivide more precisely. Or to not let certain embouchure movements creep into his playing. But no emphasis should be placed on actual playing achievements, because these achievements are irrelevant and, if the student THINKS they are important, he may start to manipulate to make these gains increase. Remember, we are ONLY talking about the performance and practice of Caruso calisthenics. Everything you have said about teaching would apply to the music that a student practices. Caruso is not music and has never been promoted as such. It is pre-music, that which prepares you to play music (Caruso's own words).

4H: 4. In terms of the boredom of some beneficial exercises-- help them understand the relationship between work and long-term results

CR: In my experience, it takes a special kind of kid to embrace this concept of work yielding long term results. Their attention span is limited and they are very result conscious. They want it to work NOW! Any techniques that can be employed to help kids understand the relationship between work and long-term results will be well received. Perhaps Don Herman has the right approach; sneak the stuff in and when the improvement starts to take place in their music playing, you have something tangible to offer as an incentive to continue and expand with a more intentional regimen of calisthenics.


_________________
Charles Raymond



[ This Message was edited by: bugleboy on 2002-08-01 13:46 ]

[derekph]

Also Charles, I have a question about the seconds. Some of my students have trouble playing above a C or D in the staff (they're beginners). Is this exercise still recommended even if they'll only be playing 4 or five notes?
It's sort of a silly question, but I wanted to ask it, so there you go.

[_bugleboy]

C/D is not bad for a beginner on the Seconds. I have started beginners on low C and then as they start to get above the tuning note, switch the starting note to G, as written.

I know it's been said zillion times (I wish I had heard it when I was in school, though) but the only dumb question is the one that doesn't get asked.

So now here I am stuck trying to get answers for all my dumb questions (the ones I didn't ask) in the past. Any teacher who would tell a student that any question ..... ANY QUESTION ..... is dumb (or silly) should be removed from having any contact with students. I think I'll put a thread in the Lounge on this.

_________________
Charles Raymond



[ This Message was edited by: bugleboy on 2002-08-01 13:59 ]

[4Him]

Charley-

Thanks for your very kind (and informative) way of telling me how inconsistent my teaching/learning theory is with the Caruso method! Perhaps my post would have been better served in the pedagogy forum.

Actually, it appears that my uninformed opinion presented you with a great platform for your counterpoints.

Glad to oblige-- and thanks for your instructive (and constructive) comments.

Ken
_________________
The man that has no music in himself,nor is not moved with the concord of sweet sounds, is fit for treasons, strategems and spoils; the motions of his spirit are dull as night, and his affections are dark as Erebus: let no such man be trusted. Shakespeare

[_bugleboy]

Ken,

All of your good points would surely apply to teaching music, lots of support and reinforcement. The catch word here, though, is "music" and, since, Caruso calisthenics are not music, they fall outside the scope of your guidelines for general teaching practices.

Coming to grips with the fact that I could be engaged with the trumpet in any way and NOT have it be music related was revolutionary to me in 1973. It turned my world upside down, but when the dust settled I realized how incredibly logical this approach was. It can be unsettling to be doing something that, on the surface, appears to be exactly the opposite of what you SHOULD be doing by applying the logic that would derive from appearances. For example, it seems absolutely, totally illogical to be using enormous amounts of pressure while playing and have that be the correct way to practice. But that's the Caruso way. You learn to use less pressure by using all that you want. Insanity! Or so I thought. But the underlying principle here is that things are not what they seem. Appearances can be deceptive and this couldn't be more profoundly true than with Caruso calisthenics.

Regards,

Charly

PS Yes, your thread was a great platform!

[4Him]

Charly-

Though you won't find a person more willing to entertain all ideas and strategies (especially related to trumpet playing since I have not come close to resolving all of my issues as a trumpet player), I could be your greatest challenge. The approach you have described is so counter-intuitive to my way of thinking/working/learning.

Now I am intrigued-- someone I have come to respect through this forum has challenged my basic constructs about learning. First, congratulations on doing so (I am pretty well indoctrinated as a former teacher, school principal and currently management consultant). Secondly, perhaps its time for me to make a trip across the Skyway Bridge for a visit sometime!

Good points you've made...

Ken
_________________
The man that has no music in himself,nor is not moved with the concord of sweet sounds, is fit for treasons, strategems and spoils; the motions of his spirit are dull as night, and his affections are dark as Erebus: let no such man be trusted. Shakespeare

[_bugleboy]

Ken,

Ha, ha. Didn't mean to challenge your world. In the old days you weren't ready for the Caruso experience unless you were at rock bottom with absolutely nothing to lose. The best condition would be something like
bleeding and completely nonfunctional. Then you were the perfect candidate for Carmine Caruso. And they came by the thousands from all around the world.

Sure let's get together and compare notes. I'm in Pinellas Park

Charly

[4Him]

Charly-

Pinellas Park???? For some reason, I thought you were in Sarasota. I am in Clearwater (work in Largo). I'll email you in a couple of weeks when things slow down a bit for me and we'll find some time to get together.

Ken
_________________
The man that has no music in himself,nor is not moved with the concord of sweet sounds, is fit for treasons, strategems and spoils; the motions of his spirit are dull as night, and his affections are dark as Erebus: let no such man be trusted. Shakespeare

[derekph]

Thanks guys. It's been interesting to hear what you both have to say about this subject.
I appreciate all of your help.