What a great day! It began by leaving the house at 7:30 AM and attending a rehearsal of a beginning band at the Musikschule. This was so interesting for me to observe, and having watched it, and learned about what they are now trying here, I'm feeling inspired to try and write/submit an article for the Instrumentalist Magazine back home. Too much to try and write about here, but the short version is that the Musikschule is now - for the first time - partnering with the local elementary school and starting (as a trial) a group of 25 eight year olds on band instruments. They meet three times a week. Twice for a rehearsal, and once for a small group lesson. In reality, it's very much like the American system (which is why I want to write about the Germans experimenting with the system). But it is MUCH different than the traditional way that a German student begins to learn to play an instrument. Traditionally, the student will begin private lessons through the Musikschule, and will likely study for two or three years by before they every play with a group of their peers. Their experiment - which is a collaboration of the Musikschule, the elementary school, and the official Town Band - is one in which they will study how the social interaction of the students at this young age may - in the group rehearsals - may have an impact on their desire to pursue their music studies later. If I didn't already have 60 hours past my Masters - this is a dissertation waiting to happen …
In today's picture gallery you will see stills of this class. (I loved the little baritone playing girl who’s feet could not touch the ground when she sat in the chair … yet she had picked the largest instrument!) At the end of class I took the band's picture with their book, "Essential Elements." I'm going to send the picture to the publisher. I wonder if they might be interested in using the picture as a publicity shot. I'm sure they will be pleased to see the method book being used by 8 year old Germans!
A clip of their work in class today follows. The conductor was teaching the students how to conduct a 3/4 pattern.
The Principal of the elementary school was there to observe the rehearsal. Reimund says that she is very supportive of this new program to bring students to the Musikschule. After the class I asked her if I could walk with her and the children to the school and look around for a few minutes (it's just across the street). She was very kind to allow me to join them, and she gave me a short tour of the school. The school is really impressive. You can tell when you walk in the door that there is a lot of care and concern for the environment. There is art from the children everywhere (which you will see in my pictures). She took me to a classroom where one of the 3rd grade instructors was teaching a music lesson. When she introduced me to the teacher, she told her I was from Chicago. The teacher then told the class that I was from America, and announced to me that they would "now sing for you in English!" Here's what happened next ...
When they finished singing for me I applauded enthusiastically, but then told them that in America there is "one last verse" that they were not performing. That being, the verse where you "put your whole body in, and put your whole body out ..." So I demonstrated, and sang, and shook my 'whole body all about' ... and they of course laughed at me a lot. It was great fun.
For the next hour I walked around the old city area of Bietigheim, and sampled fresh breads. Yum.
In the late morning Steffi took me to Ralf Janssen's new home in Hofen. I have not seen Ralf since the band's last trip to Germany (2005), but on that trip I only saw him for a few minutes. The last time we really spent any time together was 2001, so it was wonderful to have a light breakfast with him, and to take a walk with him and his 4-year old black-lab named Rico. (See pictures in the gallery.) While we were walking he stopped to show me a road that had been closed because of the over-population of frogs. There's that German frog thing again! I took a short video clip of him trying to explain the frog road to me, because I thought it would be funny to post today. But unfortunately it was too windy, and the audio didn't come out at all.
This afternoon Heinz Steidle, the Minister of Culture and Sport, took me on an afternoon sight-seeing trip. We toured the Maulbronn monastery that was built in the 1100s. He also took me to a church that was 1200 years old. Oh my. That's just really hard to comprehend. Finally, on the way back to Bietigheim, we drove past a German amusement park called Tripsdrill. There's one picture in the gallery of the water-slide. Can you believe how German that water-slide looks?!
My day ended by attending Reimund's rehearsal of the full symphony. This was the first time they have combined students from the band, and the string orchestra, to form a symphonic orchestra. I brought Reimund some orchestra music from our North High library, and they used it tonight.
Click on the picture below for pictures from today:
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