Blog resurrection

Hi!


I have decided to resurrect my ancient blog which I have been neglecting for around six years. I have decided to keep the blog in English to begin with, in order to reach a wider audience with my constantly evolving philosophy of music and music pedagogy.

The spark for revitalizing a dead blog was a conversation I had with Simon Cowen some days ago. Simon is the principal trombonist of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and I met him in Liverpool over a pint of local lager after he invited me to a concert of his orchestra.

Simon is a fellow in many fields, he plays the trombone, he teaches music and he dabbles in conducting. It was inspiring to listen to him talk passionately about his teaching and what struck me was his preference of teaching younger trombone players instead of the more advanced students.

I will try to explain what I believe he meant with that statement.

"The more advanced students have generally developed a wide range of bad habits while the beginners are yours to mould into the image you deem to be the most natural for a trombonist."

That quote comes directly from myself as I reflect on my conversation to Simon.

It can be really challenging to correct a bad habit, or to replace the bad habits with good ones, keeping the memory of Arnold Jacobs alive.

I for one regard this challenge to be one of the reasons I am on this planet. To help a fellow human being to improve an aspect of their playing or musicality when they have the cognitive skills to understand what is happening to them is a most rewarding experience.

That is why I am more at home in working with more mature music students, given that they are open to listening to what I might have to say.

More to come later :)