At Solo Festival what comments helped you the most?

I am a NYSSMA judge in NY - All-State woodwind, also voice and piano. I have other teachers tell me at each festival, what has helped their kids. Sometimes the kids themselves will see me the next year, and say "I worked on that stuff you said!". Great - but since I hear about 60-75 kids each weekend, and do this at least a half-dozen weekends, for years, I just might not remember what I told that kid. Frankly we are now *strongly cautioned* NOT to talk to the kids at all, except to give the most neutral of directions! Verbal enthusiasms like "That was a good job! A pleasure to hear you!" have been distorted by student and parents to mean "The judge just ab out TOLD me I made All-State!!!" - when we were only being supportive. We are told to let our SHEET do our talking for us. This isi often difficult, since we hear kids that we would LOVE to talk to -if only we had more time, and were allowed to; or kids that we could FIX - but we are also told that we are NOT there to *give lessons*; or kids that come up with a ton of attitude, lack of courtesy, and a *monster* of a work - and proceed to destroy it through their evident scorn for legitimate instruction on the work OR on their instrument. I now suppress my excitement when I see a big favorite listed on their sheet - and wait for the ax to fall, as it were. Yes, at dinner, we judges trade horror stories and also stories about the incredible talents we have seen in evidence.

All of us who judge make sure to be positive and encouraging, even when it strains our credulity and vocabulary. There are performances that are hard to grade, because so many things need help -and there are teachers who have the "Go ahead - embarrass yourslef, for all i care!" attitude - which makes the whole process icky for everyone. And there are performance where we have been warned not to just write WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - although we have just been blown away! And yes - there are kids whose teachers have THANKED me for telling a kid that they are "all hat and no cattle" - all attitude and no WORK.

Somebody - LOTS of somebodies - must have told me all the right things - because I decided to do this professionally since 1971. I figure I still have a lot of good years in me left . .

Any comments about tempo (working with a metronome), intonation and quality of sound (usually an air or lack of practice issue) are always hard to hear (for a student) but great comments. Being able to tell them how to fix it is great. The best judges I ever had (many, many years ago) were the ones who took a little extra time to encourage me and help me understand what I was doing right. Usually its a long day for the judge, you see/hear a hundred solos and backups happen as the day gets longer. It gets real easy to be very short with the student and send them on their way. The ones who take the time to point out the good as well as the bad are the ones I remember the most. The best conversation with a judge I ever had was the one who asked me about my practice schedule and gave me ways to improve and manage my time better. His advice was, practice what you don't know more(instead of playing through all the things you already know and play well) and listen to more of your instruments music. You should be able to (in my case) name at least 10 professional trumpet players you like and be able able to explain why you like them. Your ears will help develop "your" sound.

This motivated me to become the professional I am today.