Directions
Published: 1990 Author: Chris Kilvington
I HAVE NEVER had much time for institutions whose sole functions seem to be self-perpetuation; you know the kind of thing, meetings arranged to discuss the last meeting and to arrange a date for the next. Perhaps such groups symbolize the price we pay for living in a (relatively) civilized country, bound up with democracy, diplomacy and the like. Committees are formed, followed by sub-committees, working parties, reports, interim reports, amendments to the interim reports, and so on. The impression is gained of an efficient organization, thorough and complete, inexorably working towards a goal, a dream even. Perhaps it is; experience teaches us that you cannot just get up, make breakfast and have the revolution. Change is a slower process than that and may often need the checks and balances imposed by bureaucracy.
So I wondered at the outset how it would be with EGTA (UK). Would the Central Committee be just another self-fulfilling body or would it be striving to go somewhere? In the event I learnt a great deal in our first year, which was primarily concerned with the correct establishment and structuring of the new association. I was never bored – the minutiae and detail of language required to express matters precisely in the Articles always kept my interest, and putting faces to names at the several meetings has been a pleasure. It was sometimes exhausting and certainly, on the face of it – skin deep – I might at various moments have preferred to have been at home playing the guitar or writing music. (And surely I was not the only one!) But gradually there was growth of a slow but natural sort, an unfolding, and all the bureaucratic necessities undertaken by the many members who turned up to vote at meetings have proved their worth.
The value of this preparatory work is shown by the fact that within eighteen months a substantial number of members have a strong desire to debate their views on many aspects of teaching. The meeting at Girton College in January this year was – at last! – not about procedures but about methods of tuition. The range of views on, for example, early development of right-hand technique, was staggering and the force of argument on all sides was unfettered by polite concessionary platitudes. The diversity of methods and the reasoning behind each provided a tremendous amount to think about. The musical ramifications were also very revealing and what could have been imagined as the relatively simple business of getting beginners to pluck a few strings was soon seen as a highly complex set of contrasting processes, each representing different philosophies of what constituted good guitar teaching, even good education. No ‘rights’ or ‘wrongs’ could possibly be deduced; it was simply an occasion to soak in as much as possible. There seemed to be a sense of release as if years of isolated and committed work were just finding an initial outlet. No guitarist is an island…
Whether such a debate would have been feasible a decade ago is open to question. Certainly we have no need to travel much further back than that in the guitar’s recent history to find ourselves in a time when guitarists, from novice to professional recitalist, seemed exclusively concerned with solo performance. With some notable exceptions this appeared to be the general picture. It is difficult to imagine under those circumstances that a large group of guitarists would travel long distances, having given up a weekend, to discuss teaching methods. Solo performance was the sustaining dream, the only dream. Inevitably some players developed to a fine standard and this rise in quality led others to seek their advice. Thus teaching of a higher order came about and the point has now been reached where we can confidently represent a far wider interest in various aspects of guitar than frantic acquisition of skills and repertoire. Of course, the beauty and excitement of the solo guitar are the same attractions they ever were, the reasons why we became involved with this wonderful instrument in the first place. Long may individual performance – at all levels – continue to thrive. Such individuality is an inherent part of our healthiness and the absolute foundation on which to build further ideas. But we are more of a community nowadays, not merely an aggregate, and the several national bodies of EGTA can help these ideas to prosper; it is the role of concerned teachers everywhere to develop them through practice and discussion.
With the foregoing in mind I would like to quote our Honorary President from Classical Guitar (‘Conversations with John Williams’, March.1990):
The British branch of the European Guitar Teachers Association is plugging the last big hole in a lot of thoughts about teaching which enable the guitar to fit in with the kind of structure that other instruments have. It also internationalises our English thing. And at a time of change for everyone – not just guitarists here. not just guitarists in Europe, and not just music in Europe – it enables the guitar to make a positive contribution to changing ideas of teaching and in society generally. That’s why it’s very timely. If it had happened ten years ago, I think we would have been very junior. we would have been in such a position of putting our own house in order that we wouldn’t have had much to contribute, either to Europe or to music generally. The very fact, ironically, that I don’t think it’s doing anything dramatically new, or dramatically innovative, is a confirmation of the fact that the time is ripe to plug that gap. Academically, the guitar needs it.
The simple creation of EGTA (UK) is already quite an innovation, although possibly the natural fruit of the development process mentioned earlier. But in itself it is, like the link in a teaching chain, merely a stepping stone; its newly arrived existence is just that and no more at present. Slow steps, then. The next is surely to address ourselves to the expressed aims of the Association – to make improvements in teaching standards, to raise the guitar’s position within the musical mainstream, and to widen general interest in guitar playing. These are our directions. To embark upon them requires responsibility from us all. This might best be characterized by the phrase ‘an open mind’.
In the first instance, it is imperative that those among us representing the voice of ‘experience’ should recognize and enjoy the marvellous performance standards of some of our more youthful colleagues – not only the technical skill, but also the musical maturity and balance – all most impressive and heart-warming. There is often an obvious and endearing health in their playing and attitudes, a naturalness about the whole process. To fail to appreciate this would be a complete abdication of critical awareness. They are equipped. Their present is the guitar’s future, and one hopes that in turn their own students will continue in evolutionary fashion.
The responsibility of the established body of teachers here is to assist the new breed to prosper and in this way ‘experience’ continues to have meaning, even new life. ‘Experience’ often equates itself with ‘power’, and if this is the case we must fulfil it responsibly and graciously by creating opportunities when possible for both teaching and playing – for being involved. To deny this is a disservice to the guitar, a delay, and renders ‘experience’ redundant. So, in a way. the responsibility to encourage others and help them develop, to facilitate evolution, is inextricably bound up with survival!
Paradoxically, by giving we also create a meaningful role for ourselves; by withholding we hasten our demise. Indeed, we have a responsibility to ourselves. As far as possible, we must assimilate the best of the new standards in our teaching, not become stranded and cut off through complacency and conservatism. We must live now and for the future – not simply in the past. It is very difficult to have much faith in the concept of the status quo. In music, as in the wider context of life’s totality, there can actually be no standing still and holding what one has; without embracing new challenges and seeking fresh goals we would be, in fact, imperceptibly moving backwards.
On the other side of the coin, the flow of responsibility is not all one way. What younger teachers and players cannot have is breadth of awareness of the general music business and teaching in particular. School to college to bedsit happens very quickly and even well-planned career advice en route is no substitute for actually doing it. Much of it is a question of getting on and trying things, making mistakes, changing tack. Experience is what enables us to make a different mistake the next time, as they say. We all hope to increase the success/error ratio, so that gradually we feel our own sense of direction with some degree of confidence. The present generation owe it to themselves to accelerate the process by visiting summer schools, masterclasses, and the like; to observe established teachers in action, to see what they know, what they do well (or badly), how they react in all kinds of teaching situations; and to gain some insights into the organization upon which these events are founded. To ignore all this is to ignore a wealth of learning opportunities. These can certainly include the development of the critical faculties, asking oneself, ‘How would I have done this?’ A chance exists to assess what is going on, to incorporate everything valuable and to reject what appears to be weak. The social aspect of all this is important too, for guitarists tend to be isolated. The sharing aspect, with both peers and those of an older generation, is an essential part of becoming a more complete teacher.
Both groups can thus work together to develop their mutual careers and special interests, concerned with grass roots technique, new repertoire, the guitar’s involvement with other instruments, ensemble playing, etc. Whatever anyone feels to be a major area of need can become, through EGTA, a field to explore not in isolation but in good company. We can, as at the first Conference. begin to put forward concepts to be considered by our fellows. We can have the privilege of our ideas being argued for and against rather than trying them alone, thus having them honed; and we will be able to anticipate the next meeting, or the next letter, or the phone call, each providing the realization that others are thinking about your ideas as you are theirs. I am still pondering everything debated in such an animated way last January. There were so many notions on so many topics that, even if a little unstructured, it was obvious that a host of avenues were just waiting to be avidly explored.
Directions. That is what these avenues are. Or, at least, possible directions. We have to travel them first and some may prove shorter journeys than others. But the dream is to travel them. There are no guarantees for any one path but at least to try is surely the thing. We, EGTA (UK), British-based guitarists of all ages and complementary talents, have a great opportunity to pull together and make our own value mark in the instrument’s history. The time is now and we have only to acknowledge that our personal developments can be for the common good, and thus in turn for the benefit of the guitar. Let us all aim high – that, surely, must be our shared direction.
Copyright © 1990 by Chris Kilvington