The school is an inner city Catholic School in Christchurch. For many years Catholic Cathedral College has been suffering from a declining roll due to the changing demographic of a spreading City that is seeing the centre of the town taken over by commercial business. Cathedral College, situated right beside the very grand and beautiful Catholic Cathedral, is already an amalgamation of Sacred Heart Girls College and Xavier Boys College but until recently the future of the school was very much in doubt.

Enter Bruce Henley, the new school principal, who came with a physics background. Bruce’s task was to perform the impossible, in other words save the school. He looked around and discovered in Auckland another inner city Catholic School which had been in exactly the same position but by making compulsory the learning of a musical instrument this school is now enjoying a total revival.

Bruce visited this school and was simply amazed at what was being achieved so, despite the lack of his own musical background he decided he would take Cathedral College down a similar path. His staff was not convinced but Bruce knew that it was do or die, so money was found for instruments as the bulk of his students were not able to buy their own. At the start of the next year all of the new students were issued with an instrument. The majority of Cathedral College’s students come from Pacific Island and Maori backgrounds and these students took to music with enthusiasm. A school orchestra was formed and for Bruce their first performance at the school assembly was a very proud moment. By the end of the first year, for the first time for many years, there was an increase in the school roll and each year this is now the trend.

At the start of 2008 Bruce Henley decided to bite the bullet and he too started to learn the clarinet. As soon as he could play a couple of notes he went and joined the junior school band. He was the worst one in the band and the children were very amused that their principal was allowing himself to be put in this embarrassing position. The conductor of the band was delighted to have the school principal there at every rehearsal as the behaviour of the band members improved enormously. Bruce learnt alongside his young students and for the first time he came to appreciate the complexities of learning music. He encouraged all of the students and they encouraged him. He even made himself take the internal practical exams where he had to play in front of all the other students. Often his performances turned to custard and his nerves were very evident but of course the students at Cathedral College think it is “so cool” to have a principal who isn’t afraid of stepping out of his traditional role and at times making himself look a bit foolish.

I do have to say that Bruce who until this year has never played a musical instrument or read a note of music has made remarkable progress with his clarinet playing and is an absolute joy to teach. Not only does he want to get as good as he can at playing the clarinet he also modestly knows what an incredibly positive impact and influence he is having on his school.

At the end-of-year Prize Giving Bruce played in the school orchestra – he said he “didn’t contribute much to the performance”, however everyone in the school hall knew differently!

Music at Cathedral College is flourishing, the school roll has gone berserk and Bruce is passionate about his new hobby.

Long live music.

Where do teachers learn all of these skills? All emergency problems are discovered at crucial moments when it is impossible to visit a repairer. Although there are many fine wind instrument repairers around there are also a number who leave question marks in the instrument cases when they are returned. As a teacher we need to acquire these skills.

Out of necessity I have learnt enough to get myself out of trouble and I have always had a genuine interest in anything to do with my instrument. I learnt to dismantle my clarinet and even more importantly put it back together again soon after I started to play. I learnt how to diagnose problems and how to replace pads in a rough and ready sort of way. I developed a real respect for needle springs very early on as they are not only lethally sharp but also frustrating beyond belief if they get broken off at the key post. I don’t have the same feeling of dread about replacing cork and I know what a great friend a rubber band can be. My skills are very basic and they have got me and my students out of trouble on many occasions. However no one appreciates a highly skilled, professional repairer more than me.

(It is such a joy when you get an instrument back after it has been restored to a better than new condition.)

How does a young teacher answer a parent who asks is a “Flying Goose” a good brand of reed to buy and is a Pink Parrot a good make of saxophone? The internet has launched a staggering array of unknown instruments of mysterious brands and colours onto the market. If unsure, ask an unbiased repairer who will quickly tell you with a shudder which instruments are totally unrepairable. In the foyer of the Broken Hill Musicians Club, hanging from the ceiling in pride of place, is a chandelier made out of 12 brand new shiny saxophones. I have met many other saxophones that I would like to add to this work of art.

Another skill is being able to asses the quality of second hand instruments on the behalf of students. What may seem like a bargain may well turn into an instrument that is off the road more days than it is on. Even new instruments from reputable makers may have small faults – nothing must be taken for granted. Repairs to an instrument bought second hand can sometimes turn a bargain into a costly embarrassment especially if it’s a saxophone.

One assignment I used to give to all of my woodwind pedagogy students at the Sydney Conservatorium was to go and test drive as many student instruments as they could and then write a report on each of the different makes and models. These reports made for hilarious reading and what the music retailers didn’t realise was that students were all competing for a special prize for the best bit of retail spin they could possibly find.

Teaching can seem incredibly repetitive at times but there are so many things as a teacher you need to know so make it your mission to gain even more expertise by being able to fix your instruments and try to find time to test the myriad assortment of new instruments that are flooding our music shops and supermarkets.

My best tip – if you ever need a new instrument case it will probably be much cheaper to buy one of these cut-price new instruments. Hang the instrument on the wall and enjoy your new bargain case.

When I first embarked on this daunting task the technology was expensive, unreliable, scarce and my colleagues were justifiably skeptical.

Now that I am spend much of my time in New Zealand I have been delighted to have been leading a major research project instigated by the New Zealand Ministry of Education looking into the viability of teaching children in remote areas of NZ via video conferencing. As part of this pilot project we have taught and monitored closely the success of teaching clarinet, violin, voice and drums. The students were all beginners and for them they are the first group of New Zealand students who consider a music lesson is when you receive your tuition via video conferencing. All the students
It really is never too late at the CSM

I taught my first 73 year old when I was 15 and I remember Perc’s enthusiasm for playing the clarinet. Perc had worked on the New Zealand railways all his life and by the time I knew him he was a widower and he decided that he wanted to learn to play an instrument.

In the decades since I have taught many such people and some of my most joyful music teaching experiences have been with my adult students.

Every January my wife and I run a course for adults in Bellingen on the beautiful North Coast of NSW teaching adults from scratch how to read music and how to play the clarinet. This course is part of a much bigger Summer School called Camp Creative where over 800 people of all ages come to learn new creative skills. Each year we have 20 new adult students and this coming year will be our 9th camp. Most of our late starters have stuck with it and bought their own instruments and joined local ensembles and for me the definition of an optimist is a 93 year old who bought his own clarinet having enjoyed the course so much.

It only seemed natural when I returned to my old music school the Christchurch School of Music to start classes for adults who wanted to learn to play an instrument. We started with five clarinet players and then that grew and grew. At our Showcase Concert in 2006 we had a group of nearly 20 adults playing an item and this inspired other parents and grandparents to follow suit. In 2007 we have adults learning for the first time violin, viola, cello, flute, clarinet, bassoon, saxophone, trumpet trombone, tuba and we mustn’t forget the ukulele.

It is one thing learning to play an instrument but it is everyone’s dream to play with other musicians so I decided that it would be wonderful if all of our late starters could play in an Orchestra together. Since the CSM is situated in Barbadoes Street I decided a good name for the Orchestra was The Barbadoes Street Sympathy Orchestra.

For the first rehearsal some of the adults were so nervous they didn’t want to walk through the door into the Music Centre Chapel where the rehearsal was to be held. Life’s high achievers don’t necessarily want to feel they are back at Primary School again.

I had written a piece tailored to their abilities called “Its Never Too Late” and within a few minutes of starting everyone relaxed when they realised that their wrong notes and strange sounds were no worse than the person’s next to them.

By the time the concert came around there were well over 50 adults playing, and laughing together and if joyfulness is the measure of success then there was no doubt that the Barbadoes Street Sympathy Orchestra scored top marks.

It really is never too late to learn at the CSM.

Mark Walton OAM
CSM Musical Director

My next clarinet came from Italy and it was a Grassi which is a make that I never see or hear about these days. I thought it was wonderful however I practised so much the nickel plating came off within a matter of months. I added to my collection a Grassi A clarinet that cost me $84 which seemed like a lot of money then. My school woodwork teacher helped me make a lovely double case that was solid and strong – do you get the picture? Well this case I still see around in New Zealand 37 years later and it is standing the test of time better than it’s original owner.

What a consternation it caused in my family when my teacher said I needed to get a professional standard clarinet. This was really going to stretch the family budget but after months of waiting my Selmer Series 9 with a Selmer D mouthpiece and silver plated keys arrived. It had extra keys in all directions, articulated G#, fork Bb trilling G# — I really did feel very proud. It wasn’t long before it cracked and I remember the devastating when I looked down at the top joint to find what I thought was a hair on the surface of the wood. Little did I know that this was going to be the first of a few clarinets that would have growing pains. The local shop ordered a replacement joint and when it did arrive the not so able repair man transferred the keys over and to say it was not a success was an understatement. I moved on through Selmer Series 10s onto Buffets.

I bought my first pair of Buffet R 13’s in London and this started a long love affair with this wonderful brand of clarinets. It wasn’t long before I was working for Buffet’s in England running many schools workshops and masterclasses the length and breadth of the United Kingdom. This was a very interesting thing for a 21 year old clarinet player to be doing and the free choice of whatever Buffet instruments was just spectacular. I owned the first pair of RC Prestige’s in the UK and the Bb clarinet was such a fine instrument – and yes it cracked!

When I moved to Australia I bought a pair of Selmer 10Gs because a change is always a good thing but in a moment of public embarrassment during a recital in Brisbane when my clarinet developed a leak I was lent a Yamaha CX clarinet and 19 years later I am still playing on Yamaha CX clarinets. I have my original pair which are still in excellent condition and two extra Bbs.

I love the Yamaha sound and freedom to do the things that I want to do but recently I did try a clarinet that took me back in time and I was captivated by it’s sweetnes and purity. What a shame they haven’t made the Selmer Centre Tone clarinet for 50 odd years now.

Mark Walton

In the course of today I hosted a school concert where I explained to the kindergarten class what a trumpet is and how the sound on the flute is made. I have suggested to the members of the Singleton Public School Band that they position their stands and chairs so they can see the conductor and encouraged the saxophone players to sit on the edge of their chairs and not to twist themselves into unnatural positions. I have helped a young trumpet player to learn “The Last Post” in preparation for his important performance on ANZAC Day and I have fixed a girl’s clarinet that has had a bent key for well over a year.

Being a normal day in a school, I had to send search parties out on numerous occasions to fetch the next student who had forgotten their lesson with me. I mused on the amount of time wasted by school instrumental music teachers around the world in any one day whilst they look for their next student and how horrified their parents would be if they knew how often their children missed large chunks of their music lessons! Today I taught a number of delightful students who arrived with their instruments but no music, and this evening I will judge a school house music competition and will hopefully put the school rock bands in the right order. Tomorrow, at the local primary school, I will help to start some young players off on their musical journey by showing them how to play notes on their new, shiny instruments and the woodwind ‘masterclass’ at 9am will be a great opportunity for young musicians to play me their favourite pieces from their band method.

In many respects all of these activities sit at the bottom of the musical food chain and for most music teachers, as they establish themselves and develop their well earned reputations, the sooner they can distance themselves from this the better. I can understand this attitude but it is essential to take a much broader view of the big picture.

If the young players who are starting to learn now are inspired and well taught, they will form the basis of their school’s training band. If they receive enough parental encouragement they will then take their place in the senior band, eventually replacing the senior players who leave each year for High School. Today’s starters will then head off to High School and how happy will their new school music teacher be to welcome such committed and able musicians to join in the school’s activities.

Some of today’s beginners will join their town band and some may make their way eventually to the Newcastle Conservatorium. Upon graduation they will need a job and it is likely that they may well come back to the Upper Hunter and start the next crop of young musicians on their journey. This is not idle day-dreaming on my part – this is what happens, as I have been around long enough to see this cycle occur many times. Maybe I am fortunate to be in a position to see this but as music teachers it makes much more sense of what we do if we can take this very broad view.

In my next article I will be able to write about two masterclasses – one I am giving in London at the Royal Academy of Music and the other that I am involved with from the Royal College of Music back to my students at Auckland University in New Zealand …. Yes, all part of the same musical food chain!

So, on my arrival at the start of 2005 as the new Musical Director of the Christchurch School of Music, recruiting some adult students to learn the clarinet seemed an obvious thing to do.

I signed up some CSM parents, I spoke on local and national radio programmes and I even went on CTV’s “Shopping with Jo” and “Good Living” programmes to sell the idea that It Is Never Too Late To Learn.

I wasn’t overwhelmed with numbers but I did start with a group of five adults and soon the word got out that these classes on a Saturday afternoon were not only seriously good fun but very productive and enlightening.

By our annual Showcase Concert on August 19th we had a group of fifteen adults, late starter clarinet players, who were able to walk out onto the stage of the Christchurch Town Hall auditorium and perform to a rapt audience. I had written a piece especially for them called “We Are Putting On A Concert” and in this upbeat piece they were required to play just about all the notes they had learnt with a big clear tone, count bars’ rest, play with dynamics and all in front of an audience of over two thousand people.

I am sure none of these adults at the start of last year ever imagined that they would or could have done this and in fact even now some of them still think it must all have been a wonderful, surreal dream.

Of course the effect on the audience of seeing these not so young people in action meant that lots more mums and dads, grandmas and granddads decided that they wanted to learn. Fortunately they didn’t all decide to learn the clarinet so now at the CSM we have late starter classes in flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, violin, cello and ukulele.

As we redefine the role of the Christchurch School of Music, it is fast becoming a centre for lifelong learning and enjoyment of music. Our Late Starter programmes are growing at a wonderful rate. Adult students will struggle with certain aspects of learning but with the right teaching and encouragement and by setting realistic goals, learning to play an instrument is possible at any time of your life.

In my original class of five we had Cyril, aged eighty, who heard me throw out the challenge on Concert FM. Cyril has listened and loved music all his life but never played or read a note. He is now a valued member of our adult junior woodwind ensemble and doesn’t miss a week. Owen, aged seventy two, also started in the original class and he likes to learn something new and exciting each year. In 2005 he learnt how to fly which he found exhilarating so his 2006 challenge was learning the clarinet. Owen has had various medical problems including the loss of feeling in his left hand so initially it was a challenge for both of us. But Owen’s perseverance made his fingers much more supple so that he can now play fluently down to the lowest note on the clarinet – and he rightfully feels so very proud of himself.

These class are not just about learning how to play a musical instrument, they are about living, laughing and saying to the world “life gets better as you get older”.

It really is never too late to learn!

Mark Walton

CSM Musical Director

I need to explain exactly what I mean by biting before you get too worried because although biting is not a life-threatening situation it does in my opinion shorten one’s life as a wind player. Why would anyone want to practise an instrument that causes so much discomfort and tension even to play one note?

Many clarinet and saxophone players of all ages grip the reed and the mouthpiece with a level of determination only matched by fully grown crocodiles in the Northern Territory.

The gap between the reed and the mouthpiece is so small that it is only sensible to realise that the last thing you want to do is to make this aperture even smaller by jamming your jaw against the reed.

Where does this strange habit come from? Do our teachers panic about how flat in pitch their beginner clarinet students sound? Do teachers overreact to this flatness in pitch and get their students to play on too hard a reed too early? Do teachers teach this tight embouchure in the vain hope that the students will not develop any sloppy habits?

I know I will make myself unpopular but I am afraid to say that I put the blame back to the teacher for this biting epidemic. It does not make sense for a student to play in this tight, restricted way as is it is not natural to tighten up one’s mouth so much that the smooth flow of air through the instrument is so restricted.

My three main requirements from my beginner clarinet players is that their playing is loose, loud and flat.

Now of course I do realise that their school band conductor may not be impressed with this when they are trying to get their clarinet section in tune with the rest of the band. I tell these conductors that they just have to be patient because in time these flat clarinet players will come up to pitch and, just like the proverbial ugly duckling, they will develop a free, natural, singing style of playing the clarinet with a sound that will impress.
Without constant fighting to get the sound out of the instrument these young players are much more likely to enjoy practising as it is so much more comfortable than squeezing and biting.

Although most saxophone students also squeeze the reed too tight, the saxophone has a much fatter sound than the clarinet so they are able to get away with this faulty technique without the problem being so obvious. The great thing about developing this looser embouchure on the saxophone is that if the student is playing flat at least you can push the saxophone mouthpiece further onto the neck to bring the instrument up to pitch. Sadly, when the clarinet is flat there is not a lot you can do to raise the pitch other than warm the instrument up.

To illustrate to a student what a hindrance biting is, I suggest they count to ten whilst they clench their teeth together. Although they can obviously count like this, they realise that talking in this way is much harder than counting with their teeth unclenched.

Here is a great remedial exercise for students with this biting problem is this: finger a phrase of music and blow as much air through their instrument but without producing an actual sound.

Many students find this totally impossible. I explain that this is a knack rather like riding a bike or swimming for the first time. Once a student can do this and has experienced the sensation of the air travelling freely through their instrument, then they should try to keep their jaw in the same relaxed and open position when they play normally.

As a teacher, you do have to realise that the problem of biting is not going to go away immediately. You will need to keep gently reminding your students not to clamp the reed against the mouthpiece – however in the end all this repetition will be worth it. Without biting, your students will soon enjoy playing so much more and of course produce a beautiful, round sound and play much better in tune. In contrast, if your students play in a way that involves excess tension and general discomfort, I find it is only a matter of time before these players give up playing in preference for something that doesn’t require such an effort.

Mark Walton
Chair of Performance Outreach and Communication
Sydney Conservatorium of Music

Now that I spend a large amount of my time in New Zealand as Director of the Christchurch School of Music I have started teaching a very different type of student. To be honest none of my New Zealand students chose to learn from me because of my track record as a performer or a teacher — their parents chose me because I could teach their child on a Wednesday after their jazz ballet class. Teaching wise I was back to where I started when I first began teaching in Christchurch ages 14 – in many respects it was all a little bit humiliating.

Putting this aside I thought of all of those times I had stood in from of my Woodwind Pedagogy classes at the Sydney Conservatorium extolling the great joys of teaching beginners and students.

My students were an ill assorted bunch, the quality of their instruments left a lot to be desired and they just didn’t seem to be very interested. I had my challenges with a deaf student, a blind student and a student who never smiled even when the lesson was over.

I did not let on that I was feeling a bit dispirited and I started teaching with a fury and a passion and yes gradually the students began to respond. I had my beginners learning all the 12 one octave major scales and arpeggios from my magic scale sheet knowing that by starting early with technical work they would improve at a much faster rate. We navigated our way through the traumas of counting dotted crotchets followed by quavers and I taught the high register to my clarinet students in record time. Students who had signed up for 15 minute lessons increased their lessons to 30 minutes and I was getting more and more excited as each week went by.

My 8 year old blind student played Stranger On the Shore in a concert and my deaf student who has a cochlea implant can now play a chromatic scale for two octaves. My senior who has had a stroke can now play down to low E on the clarinet and a young Taiwanese student is sounding like he will be a saxophone superstar. My non smiling student does now occasionally smile now and she has nearly finished learning all the pieces book I felt was way beyond her. New students keep arriving each week and to be honest I haven’t enjoyed teaching so much for a long time.

The students do not see me every week for a lesson as I spend half of my life in Australia so right from the start they have to keep themselves motivated however I do at times when I am back in Australia teach some of them over the internet to check that things stay on course.

If anyone were to visit the Christchurch School of Music this time next year I think they would be very envious of the quality and enthusiasm of the clarinet and saxophone students.

I would like all my old Sydney Conservatorium Pedagogy students to know that when I extolled the virtues of teaching in the community that I meant every word. The power to do good should never be taken lightly by us music teachers.

Mark Walton — just another music teacher.

My students at Auckland University seldom see me as when I am in New Zealand I am in the South Island yet they are some of the most motivated students at their institution and obtaining good grades.

Young Matthew in Karamea on the far north western corner of the South Island has completed his first clarinet tutor book and has started on the torturous high register however I have only met him once in person.

Margaret in remote Mungindi on the border of NSW and Queensland is enjoying playing her 6th Grade pieces and it is less than three years since she started to learn to play the saxophone.

Michelle in beautiful Governors Bay on Banks Peninsula has the majority of her lessons without leaving home. Michelle will be sitting her Grade 8 clarinet exam in November and I am very confident that she will gain an excellent grade.

I am in the process of setting up a major teaching programme for 2009 in regional NSW yet I will only see the students every 6 weeks.

How is this possible?…

Before I give you my secret answer I want to list the six things that I think make for a successful lesson

1. A warm greeting at the start of the lesson so the student feels special and of course this human warmth and genuine interest has to continue throughout the lesson
2. Remembering what you did in the previous lesson and what homework was set so there is a sense of continuity
3. Good follow through so both the student and you can see how things are progressing
4. Let the student play enough so they too can see what is still wobbly under pressure
5. Give clear instructions and goal setting for what needs to be achieved by the next lesson
6. Energy and inspiration by the bucket load

So my secret answer is that I feel I can achieve all of the five things listed above by using my webcam over the internet or when the internet connection is not good enough by old fashioned telephone.

At the moment it is exam time in both countries and I have sat on the end of the phone testing my students and I find that the students respond no differently to me than they would if they were in the room.

Michelle is Governors Bay will probably do well in her Grade exam because I have spend so much time in front of my computer monitor saying ‘Let’s hear F sharp melodic minor scale one more time’.

Of course many teachers will say ‘What about the poor sound quality?’ etc etc etc ….. well, I find I can adjust my ears to whatever I am listening to and I can work out exactly what the students are doing correctly and what they need to improve on. However, in the end, my students’ enthusiasm and the results they achieve is all the evidence I need.

After each internet lesson I like to send them a quick email summarizing the lesson we have just had and encouraging them onto the next stage of their playing.

Yesterday as I was about to leave NZ I had a text from one of my NZ students asking if they could have a lesson at 8pm that evening. I texted her back and said ‘sorry I will be in Australia by then but I could give her an internet lesson’. Her text back said “cool” … and we did have a lesson via the internet and this was the follow up email I sent her ….

Hi Alex,
I was very pleased with your lesson last night – we got a lot done.

Just to confirm that we will have another lesson tomorrow at 8.15 your time and I would like to hear your new piece again and the scales – maybe a bit more from memory and really try to produce a cleaner more beautiful sound. Remember the exercise of trying to start a high C and then hold it steadily for 8 beats.

Well done.
M

Energy, expertise and enthusiasm is what it takes.

Mark Walton

On May 21st musical barriers were dismantled between wind students at Auckland University in New Zealand and the Royal College of Music in London. This was an international event with students from New Zealand, England, America and Turkey taking part. The class was taken by three teachers, Professor Janet Hilton, Head of Woodwind at the RCM, James Fry the Clarinet Lecturer at the University of Auckland and myself. James was in New Zealand and both Janet and I were in London in the Parry Room at the RCM. The 2 hour class was conducted live via video conferencing so the relaxed 10am start in London meant a late 9pm start in New Zealand.

The first clarinet player, Rowan Mead in Auckland, had brought along his chamber music colleagues to perform the lyrical Trio in A minor by Brahms. Prof Hilton listened with great concentration and offered many wonderful insights into the performance and spoke about the need to mould the sound so that there were more subtle graduations rather than just relying on the fairly sparse dynamics on the page. Janet had never taught via video conferencing before and took to the medium like a duck to water.

The second student to play was Nicola performing the Mozart Concerto, 1st movement, on a modern A clarinet but with a high level of historic performance practice. Nicola was in her final year of study at the RCM and she listened with real interest to James’ thoughts on the multitude of operatic characters that appear in Mozart’s last concerto.

Anna then performed the Schumann Fantasy pieces after 11pm at night from Auckland and again Janet had much to say about the challenges of playing Schumann and the more Anna played the more her playing blossomed.

To finish off this very stimulating class I had the privilege of working with 27 year old Arnt from Turkey who played the clarinet as though he was born playing the instrument. Arnt held nothing back and played with a passion and fire that at times made the accompanying concert Steinway sound underpowered. Arnt won all of our hearts when I asked him what it felt like when for the first time he walked past the Royal Albert Hall and up the steps to the Royal College of Music – his answer was “I shouted for joy – I just could not believe that I had finally made it to the Royal College of Music.”

At the end of the class the group of students in each country asked each other questions and the NZ students quizzed Janet about studying in London.

Janet who had never taught before using video conferencing said it was just like having the students in the room with her and she was very charming about the quality of the NZ students. Janet is now very keen to set up more of these International Classes and needless to say the students at New Zealand were thrilled beyond belief to think they could access one of the world’s top institutions without having to leave their home city.

This exciting Tertiary initiative is part of a research programme I am running from Auckland University facilitated by Prof Robert Constable who is now the Professor of Music at Auckland University.

Mark Walton