There is a new development in the field of music education. The more I think about it, the more I realize how profound it is.
That development: YouTube
OK, it's now time for my "you young whippersnappers" moment...
When I was in college and had to learn a new piece or be inspired by a new player, what did I do?
- How many professional trombone recordings were available?
- Who was performing within driving distance?
- Could I afford the time and money needed to see them perform?
Imitation is enormously powerful. Young players need to see and hear top players in order to set the bar.
YouTube does that.
Yes, there can be laughably bad videos. That guy trying to explain triplets was a screamer.
But (I hope) everyone saw through that.
I type "mozart tuba mirum" into the search box and I get 519 results instantly.
I'm a trombone professor and yet, in one morning, any of my students can gather more information about performances of this excerpt than I could in all of my studies throughout the pre-YouTube era.
For instance, if one of my students said, "You know, Solti once had the trombone player stand for the Mozart Requiem solo." I would probably reply with, "No way. Where did you hear that nonsense?"
How about this search: "joseph alessi trombone"
291 results
"arthur pryor trombone"
103 results
"ravel bolero orchestra"
652 results
Of course, youtube also gives us...
"justin bieber"
1,380,000
Stop and reflect for a moment on just how profoundly this is changing the world of teaching and learning music
