Instrument teaching method

Instrument teaching method

I was very pleased to read Gus Kairupan's article about
Christiane Hutcap's master classes (The Jakarta Post, April 7,
2000). The article is very well-written and pleasant to read. As
I am personally involved and concerned about musical life in
Indonesia, I very much would like to react to the article, as a
positive contribution and certainly not as a criticism.

It strikes me that instrument teaching in Indonesia generally
does not allow for physical analysis of the coordination of
movements. This is not only valid for violin teaching, but also
for other instruments. However, there are exceptions to this
general statement, and Grace Sudargo is certainly one of these.
Grace spent three months with Christiane Hutcap in Germany, and
has certainly been influenced by this teaching method. But even
before spending time with Hutcap in Germany, Grace, as a member
of the Yehudi Menuhin European Violin Teachers Organization, was
also influenced by the physical analysis of the violin playing,
as so well described by the master who passed away last year. I
think it is just rendering justice to Grace's teaching method to
point this out.

Further, I like to wish all the best to all violin teachers
throughout Indonesia, and would hope that in the future, the
organization of such high level Master classes will find more
participants. The concert tours and workshops outside Jakarta and
Java are certainly a very good move toward this aim.

Finally, it should be recalled that master classes in
instrument teaching are very important, but still they are only
the first step to master classes in musical interpretation.
Mastering the instrument is a must in mastering the music. The
final aim, however, is not to master the instrument but to
understand and interpret the music.

D. GAZELLE

Composer

Jakarta