Last week, I posted a picture on Facebook sent to me from Tina Barkan. It was a snapshot of a humorous T-shirt from the Barry Tuckwell Institute.
Of course this T-shirt is presumed to be just a good-humored joke. On Facebook it elicited some interesting reactions.
Every instrument has a didactic method book like the Kopprasch etudes, and this T-shirt’s message represents a common frustration with pedagogical studies of this kind.
While tremendously beneficial, they honestly can be a bit like eating dry toast.
..washed down with plain water.
» Wachet Auf !
The rewards in the Kopprasch etudes lie in the results gleaned from their diligent study. They are a practical and proven method for the basic techniques of transposition, range and articulation.
And a few of them are musically quite nice, even worthy of public performance.
Since posting this picture on Facebook , I have since seen the error of my ways. I had an epiphany and have since repented.
With tongue firmly held in cheek: