Hi Patrick,

I am a long time fan of your syllabus, here it is for everyone else:

http://www.u.arizona.edu/~neher/Studio.html

I would like to ask you about how you work through all this repetoire. It looks very well thought out and I have started to work on many of the pieces, but it is obviously a lot of work.

Do you typically work with your students on a few of these things, or do you expose them to all these pieces, and then really work through a few of them?

Do you feel the order is very crucial, working on baroque pieces first, then working through history, so to speak?

What pieces do you think are the most significant?

I had the pleasure of meeting and hearing a student of yours who came into town for the Austin symphony audition, I forgot his name, but he certainly had done his homework and was a very nice guy. I have met other students of yours through the years at different Rabbath events. Congrats on the terrific work!

hello! and thank you for noticing! I am sorry it has taken me so long to reply. Been VERY busy producing concerts and stuff (like teaching!) Okay,
Yes, I have developed a flexible syllabus over the 23 years that I have been teaching university level bass. I DO believe starting with Baroque and moving through the Eras is a good way (though maybe not the best for certain individuals) to learn how techniques "grow" with the demands of the music. Also, for musical interpretation, Baroque really is the furthest away from our time and therefore, perhaps, the most challenging to develope a deep and inspiringly communicative performance. We know arts of our time and the farther away from our present culture, the more challenging to understand and reproduce/interpret. So, by going by the eras, chronologically, one develops interpretive tools and technical tools at a pace that builds upon each previous step. Does this make sense?
Every individual learns at different paces so I tailor the syllabus for every person. The repertory listed on the web-site is suggested and I usually go with those "levels" of performance and technical challenge, but may change the actual pieces per student. For the University of Arizona, I am required to post a syllabus and we have decided in the String Area to match our syllabi for each studio by way of requiring "exit" and "entrance" repertory (similar to European exams repertory style) for each level/year.
Again, thanks for following and your kind words. I am glad to be noticed. I am also glad to note that there is more repertory out there than ANY of us thought! We need to expand the attitudes and pedagogy and doing it via repertory seems a logic step.
PN