Re: If you had to state 5 rules of a successful music composition for 12th grade students...

["Stephen Goodman" <spgoodman@earthlight.net>]

This discussion is yet another reason why I love this list, and the 
interplay with the creative, innovative folks on it.  I'm self-taught, and 
in order to be able to do sight-reading/playing I'd have to Do Nothing But 
for a long slog, but otherwise feel perfectly okay just playing - and 
having 
a perspective not bound by Knowing What I Can't Do.  Kudos for this post 
and 
especially the Guston quote, but it helps to have Imagination too!


From: scott hansen
>i have been reading some of these, and they are good suggestions...
some of this reminds me of why i don't miss teaching (college level art) 
any 
more.
i liked it and worked hard at it, but the last few yrs, after doing so 
much 
adjunct teaching for no pay...just got burned out.
it got me thinking, my life as a visual artist (for close to 40 yrs 
now)...i 
think the thing i like and why i keep doing it, is i don't like any rules. 
i 
just want to do what the F*** i want to do, for the longest time in my 
sketchbooks i just like to scribble mostly....but it took me a long time 
to 
get there....
as this relates to music (or projects)-i'm reminded of a story from grad 
school (when i got my MFA in painting)-i did a # of projects on sound art 
back in the early 90s...my prof told me of his trying at one pt yrs 
earlier 
to do a joint art/music class w/ a music prof entailing "sound art" 
principles...he said the music prof. bailed on the class b/c he thought 
that 
artists don't really follow any rules like musicians have to...i always 
sort 
of think about that when i'm playing my guitar...& since i'm mostly 
self-taught-i'm not so bogged down in the rules (and boy i break a ton of 
them!). oh well, rambling thoughts...good luck w/ your suggestions...i 
have 
none, i always tried to give my students as much freedom as possible, 
which 
is what got me in trouble in the end.....Philip Guston said: "the only 
thing 
the artist has is Freedom".
s---
www.myspace.com/scotthansen