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Date Posted: 15:24:12 04/11/07 Wed
Author: Nickie
Subject: Secondary Instruments
How do you guys feel about the importance of being strong at a secondary instrument? Do you think that being an accomplished performer on your secondary instrument is vital to your teaching effectiveness? Do you think it's necessary at all? I recently read an article about this topic so I'm interested to hear what you all think about it.
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Re: Secondary Instruments -- Amanda M., 20:54:08 04/11/07 Wed [1]
Being able to play a variety of instruments, especially if one is a band teacher, is a good skill to have. By playing certain instruments, a teacher can understand and relate to problems encountered by students. Playing a secondary instrument could always prove to beneficial in some way. For example, I think that piano is an excellent secondary instrument in that it is so versatile and used a lot in educational settings. I do not think it is absolutely necessary to be at a performance level on a secondary instrument, but again it could be helpful in the future.
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Re: Secondary Instruments -- greg king, 07:58:19 01/29/08 Tue [1]
i think that it is really important to have more than 1 instrument that you can play well. i hear many teachers say that you need to be very proficient on just one, but the musicians that i talk to that are performing in pit orchestras and with large name bands all play a variety of instruments. they say it makes you more marketable. and i dont see any problem with being more marketable.
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Re: Secondary Instruments -- Emma, 18:54:14 04/13/07 Fri [1]
Having the skills to play a variety of instruments is important, but you also have to know about the instrument itself. If you know fingerings and matainance of each instrument you will be able to aid your students. For all teachers being able to play the piano is very important so its important to be somewhat proficient on that instrument.
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Re: Secondary Instruments -- Beth G., 08:29:54 04/14/07 Sat [1]
I think that if you are going in to teaching band, you should be familiar with more than one instrument. If the kids have problem with their music or their instrument, you will be more able to help them. I don't think that you have to be at the level of a performer on a second instrument but just have some knowledge of how to handle different instruments.
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Re: Secondary Instruments -- Jessalyn, 20:08:40 04/15/07 Sun [1]
I agree with many of the comments. In band its extremely helpful to be able to fully understand and be capable of playing a multitude of instruments. But as a choral director I think its good to have loads of vocal coaching techniques and piano skills.
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Re: Secondary Instruments -- Jayme Orians, 09:16:23 05/02/07 Wed [1]
I would agree with the above comments. I don't think the teacher really needs to be a proficient performer on secondary instruments as long as they understand the performance aspects of different instruments. If they understand instrumental tendencies during perfoance then they can help the students but I dont feel they need to be an outstanding player of those instruements.
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Re: Secondary Instruments -- Amanda Jasko, 16:13:10 05/08/07 Tue [1]
I believe that a teacher needs to only have a basic understand of the tendencies and mechanics of other instruments. They should also know fingerings. For choral directors, I think that you need to be very skilled at piano.
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Re: Secondary Instruments -- John Weber, 05:25:40 02/18/08 Mon [1]
Either school of thought seems like a good idea. I only play trumpet (you try and stick a French horn or piccolo trumpet in my hands, I'll be totally lost), but I've met a few people who seemed like they could play EVERYTHING short of the digeridoo. It really all depends on the students preference. Teachers, though, should have basic knowledge of the instruments they teach, including (but not limited to) fingerings and repair skills.
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Re: Secondary Instruments -- Tasia B., 09:12:42 03/04/08 Tue [1]
I agree that being good on a secondary instrument is a vital part of being a band director. But what I don't understand is having to be like the worlds greatest on your primary instrument...I agree you should know one instrument better than the others, but how is knowing how to play clarinet like Benny Goodman going to help me teach a 5th grade trumpet player. They should encourage you to get familiar with as many instruments as you can other than your primary.
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Re: Secondary Instruments -- Ashley Diemer, 07:11:10 03/25/08 Tue [1]
I don't think it is necessary to be "strong" at a secondary instrument, but it would be very useful to be able to play a few different instruments atleast decently. Knowing the basics can help a lot.
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