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Recorders for posterity
Mar. 7th, 2013 03:42 pmMy recorder teacher of fifty years ago, Leslie Huggett, died recently. Back in 1962-63, he was teaching recorder and French horn, and possibly other instruments, with the Ottawa Board of Education. I enjoyed those lessons, although I think he regarded me, at least initially, as being a bit slow.
Like a majority of the world's population, I'm right-handed. But in learning the recorder, we were required to finger our first notes with the left hand at the top of the instrument and the right hand underneath. "Left hand, please!" he would boom as he tapped me on the shoulder just before our little group began to play. You have to remember that in those days, it was a comparatively new idea that you should NOT try to turn LEFT-handed people into righties so I'm sure many lefties went through a few guilt pangs, having the idea that they were being disobedient or rebellious. So in retrospect it seems a little ironic that my teacher was so hell-bent on reversing a habit that, you would think, would come naturally to most right-handed people. Years later, the author of a book on renaissance music opined that there was nothing particularly sacrosanct or historically authentic about that manner of fingering, since the art of the day did sometimes depict musicians keying their instruments the way I had wanted to!
Huggett's teaching practices no doubt evolved over time, and of course he was then an employee of the school board and obliged to follow their policies and procedures. But at that time and in that setting, he was very much a traditional teacher for the day. He would ask if we were in Brownies or Cubs and if so, we would have to say, "Brownie's honour, I practised every day," if in fact we were claiming to have done so. And at the end of class, we would stand behind our chairs and he would say, "Good morning, boys and girls" and we were expected to parrot back, "Good morning, Mr. Huggett!"
I enjoyed my lessons with Leslie Huggett, although I only took them for a year. In fact, he likely had more influence on my musical tastes and future than did my piano teacher, with whom I took private lessons for nine years. He helped to spark a life-long interest in early music and I very much enjoyed the handful of concerts by the Huggett Family players that I attended during the 1970s.
Another thing that Mr. Huggett did was to strongly encourage us all to "graduate" to another ensemble instrument once we completed our year with the recorder. That's something that doesn't necessarily happen if you're only taking piano lessons, since the piano is first and foremost a solo instrument (tnough certainly widely used for accompaniment). Unfortunately, what I "progressed" to, the violin, was the wrong instrument for me and the teacher was not the greatest either. If we didn't indicate a preference for a particular instrument, I think we sort of got channelled into violin lessons by default, the rationale being that in large ensemble playing, there were likely to be multiple violins but only one or two of the other instruments.
Is it too late to take up a new instrument now? Well, I suppose if you have the interest and determination, it's never too late - certainly, learning a new instrument and a new language are two of the things widely recommended to ward off dementia! And I have a much better idea of my interests and needs than I did as a kid. But my needs have changed as well. If I take up an ensemble instrument, it'll have to be one that I can play together with family or close friends, since I'm not willing to commit myself to a regular group (or even individual) rehearsal schedule. Similarly if I were to take lessons, they would have to be somewhat irregular or infrequent (no more than once a month, I'd say). And the instrument would have to be low maintenance. Unlike some people, I want to PLAY and LISTEN to music, not build the instruments or spend endless time maintaining them. The harpsichord has stymied me a bit for that reason - I LOVE the sound of it, but the required maintenance (and finding local people to do it) is a bit daunting (though mind you, I would reject the idea of making harpsichord sounds on, say, a synthesizer because I feel it has no "soul" nor authenticity - in that respect, I guess I'm a romantic at heart).
I still tootle away on my recorders from time to time, as well as playing the piano and harpsichord. I've thought about approaching the Ottawa Sitar School and taking a few lessons in that, too, although I don't really think I'd be very good at it - not that that particularly matters, I suppose. I'm not ashamed to say I'm as much a CONSUMER and supporter of music as I am a player - enjoying music is enjoying music, in all its aspects!
Yesterday, in browsing the recent acquisitions at the public library, I found a book called "My First Guitar" in which a bunch of famous guitarists talk about their relationship with their first instrument. It's something I'm very interested in now - the fusion or symbiosis between musician and instrument (or voice, which I suppose is the ultimate in fusion!) and it may provide me with some fodder for future blogs.
Like a majority of the world's population, I'm right-handed. But in learning the recorder, we were required to finger our first notes with the left hand at the top of the instrument and the right hand underneath. "Left hand, please!" he would boom as he tapped me on the shoulder just before our little group began to play. You have to remember that in those days, it was a comparatively new idea that you should NOT try to turn LEFT-handed people into righties so I'm sure many lefties went through a few guilt pangs, having the idea that they were being disobedient or rebellious. So in retrospect it seems a little ironic that my teacher was so hell-bent on reversing a habit that, you would think, would come naturally to most right-handed people. Years later, the author of a book on renaissance music opined that there was nothing particularly sacrosanct or historically authentic about that manner of fingering, since the art of the day did sometimes depict musicians keying their instruments the way I had wanted to!
Huggett's teaching practices no doubt evolved over time, and of course he was then an employee of the school board and obliged to follow their policies and procedures. But at that time and in that setting, he was very much a traditional teacher for the day. He would ask if we were in Brownies or Cubs and if so, we would have to say, "Brownie's honour, I practised every day," if in fact we were claiming to have done so. And at the end of class, we would stand behind our chairs and he would say, "Good morning, boys and girls" and we were expected to parrot back, "Good morning, Mr. Huggett!"
I enjoyed my lessons with Leslie Huggett, although I only took them for a year. In fact, he likely had more influence on my musical tastes and future than did my piano teacher, with whom I took private lessons for nine years. He helped to spark a life-long interest in early music and I very much enjoyed the handful of concerts by the Huggett Family players that I attended during the 1970s.
Another thing that Mr. Huggett did was to strongly encourage us all to "graduate" to another ensemble instrument once we completed our year with the recorder. That's something that doesn't necessarily happen if you're only taking piano lessons, since the piano is first and foremost a solo instrument (tnough certainly widely used for accompaniment). Unfortunately, what I "progressed" to, the violin, was the wrong instrument for me and the teacher was not the greatest either. If we didn't indicate a preference for a particular instrument, I think we sort of got channelled into violin lessons by default, the rationale being that in large ensemble playing, there were likely to be multiple violins but only one or two of the other instruments.
Is it too late to take up a new instrument now? Well, I suppose if you have the interest and determination, it's never too late - certainly, learning a new instrument and a new language are two of the things widely recommended to ward off dementia! And I have a much better idea of my interests and needs than I did as a kid. But my needs have changed as well. If I take up an ensemble instrument, it'll have to be one that I can play together with family or close friends, since I'm not willing to commit myself to a regular group (or even individual) rehearsal schedule. Similarly if I were to take lessons, they would have to be somewhat irregular or infrequent (no more than once a month, I'd say). And the instrument would have to be low maintenance. Unlike some people, I want to PLAY and LISTEN to music, not build the instruments or spend endless time maintaining them. The harpsichord has stymied me a bit for that reason - I LOVE the sound of it, but the required maintenance (and finding local people to do it) is a bit daunting (though mind you, I would reject the idea of making harpsichord sounds on, say, a synthesizer because I feel it has no "soul" nor authenticity - in that respect, I guess I'm a romantic at heart).
I still tootle away on my recorders from time to time, as well as playing the piano and harpsichord. I've thought about approaching the Ottawa Sitar School and taking a few lessons in that, too, although I don't really think I'd be very good at it - not that that particularly matters, I suppose. I'm not ashamed to say I'm as much a CONSUMER and supporter of music as I am a player - enjoying music is enjoying music, in all its aspects!
Yesterday, in browsing the recent acquisitions at the public library, I found a book called "My First Guitar" in which a bunch of famous guitarists talk about their relationship with their first instrument. It's something I'm very interested in now - the fusion or symbiosis between musician and instrument (or voice, which I suppose is the ultimate in fusion!) and it may provide me with some fodder for future blogs.
