Iowa State University
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Music Department
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Music Department
Syllabus
MUSIC 118F, 119F, 219F, 318F, 319F, 419F
Studio Clarinet
Studio Clarinet
Instructor: Dr. Gregory
Oakes
Meeting Time: By Appointment
Office Hours: By Appointment
Music Hall 215
Meeting Time: By Appointment
Office Hours: By Appointment
Music Hall 215
Course Description
This course is a combination of weekly,
private instruction and diligent, daily practice. Students
enrolled for 3 credit hours will receive 50 minutes of private
instruction per week. The student will improve his/her
performance on the clarinet by solidifying fundamentals,
facilitating better technique, and increasing awareness of
standard repertoire for the instrument.
Required Materials
• Clarinet in good repair and
quality reeds in playable condition. Expect to use a box of
reeds per month under average practicing and performing
conditions.
• Notebook (to be used exclusively
for clarinet study)
• Metronome
• Tuner
• Recordable CDs. Bring at least 13 at the beginning of the semester for recording
each week’s lesson.
• Recording equipment with a quality
microphone to use for individual assessment (e.g. Digital recorder, computer, iPod, etc.)
Required Text
Printed materials covering technique,
etudes, and literature as directed by the instructor to suit
the individual student’s needs and ability. Students must
obtain the assigned materials before the next lesson following
an assignment.
Course Objectives
Clarinetists will improve their
instrumental and musical ability through directed, individual
study. The needs of individuals vary, so the specific content
and direction of study will not be identical for all students.
However, all students should be able to meet the following
objectives in each lesson.
1. Scales Play all assigned major and
minor scales, with extended range, accurately and evenly.
2. Exercises Perform assigned technical
exercises. Success will be measured by technical improvement
(50%), rhythmic accuracy (25%), and intonation (25%)
3. Etudes Perform a new assigned etude
each week. The quality of the performance is measured through
technical accuracy (20%), rhythmic accuracy (20%), intonation
(20%), musicality (20%), and stylistic appropriateness (20%).
The first two criteria can be met through attention to the
written page. Intonation can be measured with a tuner. And
musicality and stylistic appropriateness are a product of
considerations of idiomatic performance practice and historical
tradition.
4. Repertoire Perform the assigned
portion of a given piece of repertoire. The quality of the
performance is measured through technical accuracy (20%),
rhythmic accuracy (20%), intonation (20%), musicality (20%),
and stylistic appropriateness (20%) as in the etudes, above.
The following rubric gives an idea of how your work is evaluated.
100% Complete familiarity with material; no errors or hesitation in performance
90% Excellent familiarity with material; occasional error that doesn't repeat on a
second performance
80% Good familiarity with material; rare persistent errors that the student is in
the process of working through
70% Some familiarity with material; student continues to demonstrate errors
from previous lessons
60% Passing familiarity with material; student has difficulty getting through
passages at any tempo
50% No familiarity with material; performance in lesson is similar to the process
of learning and practicing
40% No familiarity with material; performance shows lack of prerequisite skills
necessary to begin work on assignment
0% Student cannot or will not play the material
Attendance
Students are expected to arrive on time
to their lessons with their instrument(s) assembled and warmed
up. Students arriving more than ten minutes late to a lesson
will be marked absent from that lesson. Any unexcused absence
will be recorded as a failing grade for that lesson. Students
may be excused in case of illness, family emergency, or USM
School of Music events only. In any of these cases, students
must still notify Dr. Oakes by phone or e-mail before their
scheduled lesson time, 24 hours in advance except in cases of
extreme emergency.
There will be a list of required concerts
posted on the studio web site
and on the studio bulletin board, listing all clarinet-specific concerts for the
semester. Students must check this list and attend all listed
performances. Each attendance is graded as an additional lesson.
Attendance counts as 100%, absence counts as 0%.
Students wishing to change their lesson
times should first try to trade with other students before
contacting the professor. Students will have the best chance at
finding a suitable trade or other lesson time when they try to
reschedule a week in advance.
Communication
Students must obtain an e-mail account and check it regularly. By default, the
university-assigned e-mail address will be the one used unless students notify
Dr. Oakes by e-mail of the address that they wish to use. Periodic
announcements will go out via e-mail, and students are responsible to know the
content of those e-mails. Also, there is a clarinet studio web site that
students should check on a regular basis. That site will have the most current
information regarding required concerts, studio announcements, etc.
Required Concerts
Students are required to attend at least twelve (12) concerts each semester. These
concerts must be in the vein of classical music. Within one week of the concert,
students must turn in a review of the event with the event program attached. The
review must be a discussion of the pieces heard on the concert. Approach each
review with scholarly rigor: any review not standing up to the standards of an
academic paper will not be acceptable. Six of the concert reviews are due by the
middle of the semester, and the other six are due at the end of the semester.
Although most of the concerts are at the discretion of the student, certain
concerts are mandatory. These include:
One Diversity concert (required by NASM. This review should be handed in to
the front office).
Required clarinet concerts as posted on the bulletin board outside the clarinet
studio. These concerts include all clarinet recitals and solo performances
involving significant clarinet repertoire.
Assessment
Final grades will consist of
60% Lesson Performance—A total of
all the lessons as measured by the guidelines given in the
“Objectives” section.
10% Concert attendance and reviews
10% Materials and Instrument—Have
all assigned music by the lesson following an assignment.
Students must also keep their clarinet in good repair and have
a supply of quality, broken-in reeds. Students will receive a
grade for each lesson. Students coming to a lesson without
having fixed a previously-addressed instrument or reed issue
will receive a failing grade for this portion.
20% Juries—An average of the grades
from the faculty for the end-of-semester juries.
The following percentage scale will
determine grades for this class:
93%–100% A
90%–92% A–
87%–89% B+
83%–86% B
80%–82% B–
77%–79% C+
73%–76% C
70%–72% C–
67%–69% D+
63%–66% D
60%–62% D–
0%–59% F
Practicing
Daily practice is essential and the
single most important component of a musician’s
development. For performance majors (Bachelor of Arts), the
following schedule of practice times indicates projected
improvement:
3 hours: minimum for maintenance
4 hours: improvement
5 hours: noticeable improvement (expected
for the top students)
Education majors can decrease each of
these amounts by one hour. However, the best improvement will
always come from well-planned, consistent practice. Students
should plan to spend their daily practice similarly to the
following outline:
30–45 minutes Warm-up
45–90 minutes Scales and Technique
45–90 minutes Etudes
45–90 minutes Literature