Rushing the Repertoire

Calvin has been working hard on his Christmas CD.  In addition we have started picking repertoire for his Book Six program.  Although at the moment, with three gals working toward graduation, I'm a little burnt out of K. 330 I, in general Book Six is my favorite book. It should be Calvin's too, as I was practicing for my Book Six teacher training the whole time I was pregnant with him.

The problem is, there is so much awesome lateral repertoire at this level.  One thinks how great the Bach Invention is, but there are 14 more.  One thinks how beautiful the Scarlatti Sonata, but again, no one knows how many hundred Scarlatti sonatas there are.  I could go on and on.  Yes, the Chopin Waltz, but have you played all the Chopin from the Keith Snell collection yet?  There are a dozen little pieces to tackle.  In the blink of an eye we've got a list of 25 pieces.  Calvin, like all the kids in the studio, has heard all these pieces and has been waiting to play them all.  We can't not play THAT. . . .

So.  I'm committed to not moving too fast too soon.  Is there any reason we shouldn't camp out in Book Six for a few years?  Every time I move someone too fast too soon, and I have done it. . . it backfires.  Performance quality suffers. . . among other catastrophes. . .

I've always had a pet peeve about kids playing music that was too difficult for them.  I'm human.  I've done it, and I've let students and parents pressure me to do it.  Sometimes it's just a miscalculation, but sometimes it's born of a competitive spirit.  Same result.

The kids have to understand the music.  They have to be able to get their 50 perfect repetitions.  If it's too hard to play perfectly it's too hard.  The criteria doesn't change for the advanced students.

I can hear a little voice from the past saying, "but they won't grow without a challenge."  Yes, and no.   It has to be the right kind of challenge.  Attainable.

I confess to the occasional inappropriate musical assignment and recommit to making sure kids don't go too fast too soon.  Not my own kid, and not the rest of the studio kids.  There is too much good music out there.