Who's Been Writing on My Music?

One of my college friends absolutely could not bring herself to write in or otherwise mark her textbooks. She was raised in a household were marking a book was one of the worst things you could do. I was also raised in a household that held great respect for books, but my family was also one of learners. When I was little, my father was in graduate school, and when I was in high school my mother returned to school to complete her college education. Defacing books was a definite no-no, but marking passages and making notes in your own textbooks was an important study tool.

As a musician, I learned early on to mark my music IN PENCIL as an aid to learning and performing. As I have been pulling out method books and music from my small collection to work on, I find that there are notes and markings in many places. A couple of weeks ago I pulled out the Bach Arioso at the suggestion of the music director at my church. On the top left corner there is a notation that reads "Cindy's Wedding." My friend Cindy got married the summer after my Sophomore year of college. Some of those 30-year-old notes and markings are not in my handwriting. Looking at this music again I remember the session with my Betty Leeson, my flute teacher while I was at Rockford College, where we worked through the piece and marked it for practice and performance in preparation for the wedding.

Throughout my music are notes from all four of my flute teachers, although Dr. Cunningham's are confined to the Rubank Method books used in my high school music program. This evening I turned the page in my book of Berbiguier etudes to work on #8 and saw some notes about how to practice it scribbled across the top. Although I acquired the book of etudes while studying with Lise Mann, the notes were not hers. Neither were they in Betty Leeson's handwriting. At some point during the year or so I studied with Richard Wyton, we must have worked on some of the etudes.

Having those notes on my music is like having those teachers still with me years after I stopped studying with them. I can still hear Lise telling us to watch our tempo on 16th note runs, Betty working with me to improve interpretation, and Richard drilling me on my scales. Their teaching continues to help me as I work through the technical part of playing the flute.

Maybe it's time to add to those notes...