ETIQUETTE OF RECORDING LESSONS

Attending a shakuhachi festival on the Sunshine Coast, I was surprised at the number of students who were NOT taping the proceedings. From my experience with distance learning, and with often long periods between classes, trying to learn a piece from one’s memory of the lesson is difficult indeed. So reference to recordings is an invaluable resource.

Recording of lessons is very useful and is to be encouraged. It is normal practice in Japan to record lessons and workshops.

Should you be taking a lesson from a teacher for the first time, it is good manners and therefore essential to seek their prior approval.

You should not expect however, to be able to record the teacher playing a piece solo, hoping they were to give you a special private performance. Nor should such a request be made. Although some teachers may be prepared to do that, it is more likely that,  at the end of the lesson, the piece will be played by the teacher and student together, from beginning to end, as if it were a performance.  Mistakes and all.  During such a time, the true feeling or spirit of the piece is transmitted. Even if the student is struggling during this final playing, they should not interrupt the piece. Rather they should continue on and try to catch the feeling even though all their notes are not there or if some of them are “wrong”.

Different commercial recordings of pieces should be collected and these can also be used as learning aids. It should be remembered however, that both studio recordings and “live” recordings may not necessarily be a true reflection of the way a piece is taught and learned.

If you intend to record a lesson, take care to ensure your recorder is ready and that batteries are sufficiently full for the duration. Do not interrupt a lesson to fiddle with your tape recorder.

The new “Mini-Disc” or mp3 recorders are ideal as they can record a whole lesson; no having to stop the lesson to turn over the tape! After the lesson they can be easily “edited” with unnecessary sections removed.

ANDREW MACGREGOR
2000