Gary Ewer CME Article

7/25/2019 Gary Ewer CME Article

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Where do I put my Fingers? Developing

Excellence in Young Musicians

Canadian Music Educator: Gary Eer

Article by Rhonda Corrigan

Theres nothing like a dream to create the future.

Victor Hugo, Les Miserables, 1862

French dramatist, novelist, and oet

!hen he laid do"n his baton at the end o# the Les Miserables er#ormanceat $t %atric&'s High $chool in the $ring o# 2(() *ar+ "er reali-ed that "hat

he had al"a+s hoed his legac+ to his band and choral students "ould be

had come to #ruition the+ "ere ro#essionals. /heir er#ormance that night

"as an a0rmation o# his belie# that holding his students to a high standard

o# ecellence "as not onl+ reasonable it "as nothing less than the+

deserved.

!o it all "egan

# +ou ta&e a meandering $unda+ drive about thirt+ minutes or so outside o#Hali#a, 3ova $cotia +ou might 4nd +oursel# in !indsor 5unction. nd, i# +ou

could time travel bac& to the earl+ 17('s and ta&e a "al& do"n !indsor

5unction 9oad, +ou ma+ "ell 4nd +oursel# stoing in #ront o# a articular

house to catch strains o# the l Hirt record album Hone+ in the Horn

"a#ting through the "indo" and be riv+ to the musical &indling being

ignited in a 1: +ear old bo+.

/he "er household "as home to a "ide variet+ o# musical genres "hen the

seven "er siblings "ere gro"ing u. n addition to a #e" ;lassical music

albums, the record collection included the


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3o" one might assume that a child gro"ing u in such an environment

"ould be inevitabl+ dra"n to a career in music but not so in this case. "er

"as actuall+ ?uite interested in stronom+ and had contemlated that 4eld

as a ossible career. Ho"ever, b+ the time he had reached grade t"elve, he

had come to the reali-ation that although he loved the trivia o# science he

en>o+ed it more as a hobb+ and that music "as his true calling, seci4call+

comosition. I knew that I wanted to do something with music,said "er

"hen as&ed about "hat set him on the ath to music education but NOT

teach. I had no desire to do it. ronicall+, once he started teaching it

became something that he reall+ loved. t "as in the #all o# 177 that he

decided to ma&e this his #ocus and in 1782 he graduated "ith a


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aected him deel+B you can ask ore#er why ha#en$t you been working%

but the answer is irrele#ant&. 'hate#er came rom acting !ositi#ely is

always better than i you got angry and short(tem!ered."er too&


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nterestingl+ "er notes that it is not uncommon #or the "ords music

and creativit+ to be treated as s+non+ms "hen, in actualit+, rehearsals

Imusical ensemblesJ can be some o# the least creative time that a child

sends in school. *arly music education was #ery much +here$s your music

now !lay the right note.$ That$s not being terribly creati#esa+s "er. He

cautions music educators to be cogni-ant o# this danger and to encourage

and suort their students b+ engaging them in critical thin&ing and

conversation. He ac&no"ledges that current music edagogies aear to be

moving in a dierent direction b+ ta&ing into consideration the bigger

icture "hich lends itsel# to being more eeriential. n light o# this, "er

#eels that there are man+ "a+s to suort and encourage a student's

musical develoment and understanding. t could be as simle as as&ing

them a ?uestion about their la+ing or through oortunities #or

imrovisation. t could also include more abstract activities li&e creating art

"or&. s "er suggested it could be anything outside o where do I !ut myngers%

&epertoire and Musical !onesty

n+ conductor o# an+ ensemble "ould admit to times "hen the+ "ished that

the rocess o# reertoire selection came "ith a "arrant+ or, at least, an oer

o# assurance. /here are so man+ variables to consider in the rocess "ith not

the least o# these being student aroval. lthough "er did not have a

seci4c list o# criteria that he re#erred to "hen selecting reertoire one could

be sure that "hat he >o&ingl+ re#erred to as the collected works o -rake

"ould not be given consideration. !h+G


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verbali-e their musings b+ as&ing "hat do +ou thin& haenedG and ho"

do "e 4 itG I"er regularl+ so&e in the collective i.e. "e are all in this

together "hen addressing various matters "ith his ensembles.J Dne thing

"er never did "as let his students #eel li&e it "as a disaster i things

didn$t go to well there was always going to be a ne)t time&.we$re ust going

to kee! getting better.

Having said that "er ac&no"ledged that there are times "hen

ensembles need to see the conductor's disaointment. He "as ?uic& to

clari#+ b+ noting that there is a time and a "a+ to voice that disaointment

and that is o#ten more oignant "hen it's done ?uietl+ and "ith resect. He

rovided this eamle. His band ensemble had been "or&ing diligentl+ in

rearation #or a articular concert. Ho"ever, during one articular

rehearsal, about a "ee& be#ore the concert, something "as dierent. "er

described it this "a+B they were !laying in a really slo!!y, la/y style that

was beneath them. I !ut my baton down and walked around the room a little

0kids were "uiet. I walked aback to the !odium and said you o1end me

and they were shocked./hen he ?uietl+ elained to the grou "hat he

meantB we take !ride in learning to !lay a !iece correctly so it$s not o.k. to

suddenly be so bored with it that you aren$t going to !lay your dynamics, or

!ay attention to your !hrasing.His #eeling "as that once +ou've learned to

la+ something correctl+ +ou determine never to la+ it "rong again.

%he Measure o' (uccess

!hen as&ed about "hat he #elt "ere the &e+ comonents to a

success#ul school music rogram "er's resonse alluded to a little reverse

s+cholog+. He stated I I can$t gure out what to do to& I look at

!rograms that aren$t thri#ing and wonder why they aren$t. His 4rst +ears o#

teaching rovided great insight into this uni?ue circumstance and "hat "er

discovered "as that the ans"er o#ten la+ in the studentAteacher relationshi

more seci4call+, the li&eabilit+ o# the teacher. /hus, #or him, the 4rst ste"as to ma&e ositive relationshis "ith the students a riorit+. n "er's

oinion children o#ten have trouble discerning the distinction bet"een li&e

and resect as "ell as disli&e and disresect #or them the "ords are o#ten

interchangeable. As adults we can still learn rom someone who we might

not necessarily like. 2ids ha#en$t reached that le#el o maturity yet.

K


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/he second ste included having a teacher "ho has high standards

one "ho "as al"a+s striving to elevate their students to as close to a

ro#essional level as ossible no matter their age or abilit+. /hat came "ith

treating the students li&e +ou eected nothing less thus increasing the

chances o# the eectation becoming the realit+. ;ase in oint, it "as his last

+ear at $t %atric&'s High and he "as "or&ing "ith the chorus #or the uA

coming sring musical Les Miserables. n this articular rehearsal he had

stoed to address an area that re?uired some attention and, be#ore he

could sa+ an+thing, the $/< sections "ere correcting themselves or each

other. /he+ "ere "or&ing together to ma&e it right and "ere ver+ ecited to

do so. t "as a ver+ ositive and ro#essional environment. s "er

described, As a teacher I elt like I had created a !er!etual motion machine.

They weren$t looking to me and saying tell me what to do they knew what

to do and set about doing it themsel#es. 3eedless to sa+ "er "as thrilled.

He credits this, in art, to the constant and recurrent dialogue he "asengaged in "ith his ensembles about "hat musicalit+ meant and "hat it

encomassed.

)oo*ing +ac*

Li&e ever+ teacher be#ore him, "er eerienced some roc&+ moments

in those earl+ +ears o# teaching. He >o&ed that there is no one more set in

their "a+s than teenagers. For them change can be #raught "ith insecurit+

thus learning to trust a ne" teacher o#ten ta&es time. His advice to an+one

ne" to a career in music education is to tr+ and &ee the routine andreertoire as #amiliar as ossible that 4rst +ear. t's in the #ollo"ing +ear,

"hen the students see that +ou are bac&, that +ou can introduce changes.

"er also recalls a time "hen he ?uestioned "hether or not teaching

"as #or him. He relates this stor+B

It was the end o my rst year at 3t 4at$s and we took !art in a

big end(o 0year concert that in#ol#ed other choirs in the city. Ater our

!erormance two o my male choir members came u! to me and said

Can we go% 'hen I said no they re!lied well, we$re done. I

e)!lained that other grou!s were going to !erorm and that it was only

res!ectul that they should stay and show their su!!ort to them in the

same way their choir had been su!!orted. They ust kind o looked at

me and then at each other and said Ah, let$s go. It made me eel

really small5 like I had had no e1ect on them at all. I really beat mysel

u! about those two guys and how awul I elt as a teacher. That was

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almost the height o disres!ect. 'hat really hurt was that they weren$t

angry but that they com!letely disregarded me. I wondered i I wanted

that as a career. I didn$t ha#e a good answer or that at the time 0 it

was close to the end o the year and I ust had to come to some sort o

understanding but that encounter almost derailed me. 'hen I started

the second year I hadn$t really committed mysel to teaching as a

career. 6owe#er I was #ery !leased as I could sense that the kids

wanted me there and that T6*7 wanted to be there so that second

year sorted it all out.

nd sort themselves out the+ did. "er ended u teaching at $t

%atric&'s High $chool #rom $etember 1771 until he resigned the osition in

5une 2(() to ta&e an instructorshi osition at =alhousie @niversit+.

/hroughout his +ears there "ere man+ highlights #or "er though, in

his humilit+, his most memorable "ere the ones that "ere student initiated./he 4rst highlight "as the student nominated /eacher o# the Eear "ard he

received at $t %at's in 1778. !hat "as articularl+ meaning#ul "as that his

reutation had receded him as man+ o# the students "ho voted #or him had

never been in his classroom./he second "as "hen his students, during one

o# the musicals, had given him a director's chair "ith /he %ro#essional

ainted on the bac&. arentl+ "er's #ocus on ro#essionalism had reall+

resonated "ith them

Does a musician ever retire?

n 2(12 "er resigned his osition at =alhousie and moved to %ort

9o+al, 3ova $cotia. 3ot one to retire in the #ormal sense o# the "ord "er

continues to be ?uite involved in the local music scene b+ dividing his time

bet"een numerous interests conducting the =alhousie ;ollegium ;antorum

on Monda+ nights "hile regularl+ maintaining a blog #or song"riter's called

/he $ecrets o# $ong"riting IhttB""".secretso#song"riting.comJ in

con>unction "ith /he ssential $ecrets o# $ong"ritingB Eou/ube ;hannel

IhttsB""".+outube.comusergar+e"erJ He also continues to indulge in his

4rst musical love, comosing and arranging, mainl+ #or choral ensembles.

IFor more in#ormation, lease visitB %antomime Music %ublicationsB /he

;horal Music o# *ar+ "er

httB""".antomimemusic.comaboutgar+.htmlJ lthough no longer

teaching, he is still connected "ith ublic school music education as he

conducts $+mhon+ 3ova $cotia's school concerts in the #all and the sring
http://www.secretsofsongwriting.com/https://www.youtube.com/user/garyewerhttp://www.pantomimemusic.com/about_gary.htmlhttps://www.youtube.com/user/garyewerhttp://www.pantomimemusic.com/about_gary.htmlhttp://www.secretsofsongwriting.com/


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o# each +ear. 3one o# "hich is surrising considering his illustrious career as

a music teacher.

%he Finale

!hen the cast had ta&en their 4nal bo"s at the end o# that LesMiserables er#ormance in 2((), "er "as called to the stage to ta&e his

bo". ddressing the audience he so&e about his eectation o# ecellence

about setting high standards and ma&ing a conscious eort to instill in his

choral and band students the motivation and the determination to

continuall+ strive to do their best. He also shared the ans"er he had given a

arent "hen the+ had some"hat incredulousl+ as&ed him a#ter a revious

er#ormance ho" do +ou ma&e the &ids sound so goodG "er's resonse

rang "ith honest+ and convictionB It$s kids this age that are standing on the

!odium at the Olym!ics 0 not !eo!le my age so it ne#er sur!rises me that

they do so well. 'hat should sur!rise us is that they don$t do well. n hismind it "as as simle as that.

9F93;B

Hugo, Victor. Les Miserables terra"uote.terra?uote. n.d. !eb. 16 Februar+

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