This discussion is drifting away from common sense.

Paul Cornaby's recent post has inspired me to look for the largest
strongest soapbox I can find, and climb upon it to sing out with my most
mediocre froggie-voice.

*Of course* it is wonderful for amateurs to play music and good for us
all to support amateur performances in our community!  But if it were not
for fine professional teachers, artists, and conservatories, the level of
performance would remain at a very low level.  In order to improve, one
must be inspired.  Excellence is inspiring.  Yes, it is true that some
amateurs are very good musicians, but it is also true that they are the
exception, rather than the rule.

Paul Cornaby wrote:

>All of us are mediocre in some ways; does this mean that we have to
>wait outside or use the servants' entrance?

Of course not.  But to read your arguments, one would think you are
praising mediocrity.  I just checked my dictionary, and in black and white,
it says that it is "a word used disparagingly".  Not something to aspire
to, eh? Not something I'd want to advertise.

Would you want a mediocre doctor to prescribe medication for you? Would
you hire a mediocre architect to do in a year what an excellent one could do
in a month? I have a plumber I can recommend for your next major plumbing
catastrophe.  He is a great guy, salt of the earth, and he works for nearly
nothing.  He is just a bit inept.  You will have to help him, but I'm
certain you won't mind a bit.

The best orchestras are filled with musicians who have specialized and
who continue to improve with each (frequent) practice session.  I say the
BEST orchestras.  The best orchesrta conductors are not easily satisfied,
either.  They demand the best work from their musicians.  Yeah, yeah, don't
annoy me and tell me about the professional players who don't practice and
just sit warming seats.  THEY are your true mediocrities, the dead wood
that disgraces every profession.

Amateurs are in an altogether different category.  Surely you can see that.
Amateur organizations meet once a week at the most, (and not all year long,
either) for only a few hours, and I know for a fact that most of the
members, enthusiastic as they may be, don't take their instruments out of
the case from rehearsal to rehearsal.  Most amateur organizations have no
entrance requirements, do not hold auditions, and do not fire members.
Conductors plead with them to look over their parts.  They hold section
rehearsals to teach their parts to them.  Amateur choirs are in even worse
shape, with many members not EVEN able to read music.  The director must
teach parts by rote.  Do you have any idea how much time is wasted that
way? Time that could be spent on musicianship is wasted on the nuts and
bolts, because truely mediocre people do not take themselves seriously
enough to learn to be better at what they do.

It is the RARE amateur organization that is filled with dedicated musicians
with enough technique to play the music in front of them.  And many amateur
orchestras hire 'ringers' (professionals) to come in and fill out meager or
hopeless sections for the concert.  These pros perk up the rest of the
orchestra, and make it sound better than it really is.

If playing badly gives pleasure, think how much more pleasure one can
experience by playing better.  A truely mediocre person does not care about
improvement.  That person is content to stay put and not do heavy lifting.

>The fact that I have some mediocrities does not mean that I shouldn't
>attempt to do some things that give me pleasure and statisfaction.

Yes, but would you do those half-baked things in public in front of an
audience and expect applause, too?

Would you enjoy eating mediocre food at a mediocre restaurant served by
a mediocre waiter? Oh, your BROTHER-IN-LAW owns the restaurant? That's
another story.  Bring all your friends.  Praise the cook.  Maybe all that
attention will improve the service.  After all, dinner is probably free!

>The fact that a community orchestra with "amateur" players does not reach
>the lofty stratosphere occupied by a major symphony orchestra does not mean
>that the community should not have aspirations.

I agree with you one hundred percent.  It is good to have aspirations.
Professional orchestras need amateurs in their audiences.  Amateurs need
professionals to emulate.  And among professionals, there are certainly
many different (and steep) levels of achievement.

Oh, and by the way, when was the last time your friendly local orchestra
reached that "lofty stratosphere?"

>Many individuals seem to forget that playing symphonic music,
>even if far from perfect, is the kind of activity which brings people who
>lack mediocrity in other respects to a fuller appreciation of the kinds of
>music which all of us hold dear.

It is a great social activity.  One can make many friends playing in
amateur orchestras and playing amateur chamber music.  It can be exciting
and fulfilling.  But most of us who are amateur musicians do not kid
ourselves.  WE know how good we are.  And we are not content to be
mediocre, either.  Mistakes are painful.  Our shortcomings make us
very humble.  They make us want to become better at what we do.

Good musicians (amateur and professional) are NEVER content to remain
static.  They try to improve all through their lives.  They learn new
music, work to improve tone, velocity, interpretation.

>I once felt obliged to point out to a Russian cellist that the players
>whom he was advising to "give it up" are also the people who would be
>buying tickets to his concerts and buying recordings of the music which
>they were attempting to play in a less than perfect manner.

But it would be horrible to have a dishonest teacher.  If your teacher
thinks you'd be better off following some other profession, (and you
have sought other honest opinions too) you have acquired some very useful
information that can prevent years of starvation and struggle.  One never
has to "give up" playing the instrument or singing, even without super
talent.  One can spend a lifetime taking music lessons and playing for fun.
But one would be a fool to pursue a such a difficult *career* without the
chops for it.  It is a highly competitive field.  Even very talented folks
fall by the wayside.

>I believe that all of us favor striving for excellence, but let us not
>forget our own imperfections.  There are occasions when arrogance should be
>classed as one of the deadly sins.

It is not arrogant to be excellent.  Arrogance is unpleasant behavior, but
it has *nothing* to do with excellence.  Talent is something that must be
developed, and excellence in music is the shining beacon for it.  Mediocre
performances do not inspire.  They disappoint and discourage people with
good ears for music.  The best music written demands the best possible
performances.  Anything short of that does disservice to the art of music.

Mimi Ezust <[log in to unmask]>