There is an excellent article by Elke Baker on reel tempos
at the SHSA website:
http://www.shsa.org/music.
She talks about many of the issues we have discussed here.
At 05:21 PM 1/14/03 -0500, Sharon wrote:
(snip)
despite the fact that I am a judge for the SHSA Comps
I agree with almost everything he says! Competitions are a real problem
in
the trad. music world.
(snip)
I
agree with everything else you said, but here is 2 cents more:
There
are many people in the Scottish musical world who agree with you, and
competing is not for them. But there are many many people who love the
challenge of competing, and I think we should be careful about
discounting them. If we have "rules" it is because we want the
playing field to be even, and everything understood clearly. It is NOT
because we get off on ordering people around.
Many
people use competitions as a balm to their egos, and it is dangerous to
have comp rules that would allow the judges too much power. As a Teacher,
I really like to see the student learn tunes and style. I Never insist
that my students compete. It is always their decision. As a Judge,
I hate to see all that work not recognized because only one person can
get first prize. And too many people only see the prize and don't
appreciate the sweat that went into all the competitors. As the Audience,
I love to hear the instrument played, and occasionally see the drama when
two really good people compete.
Sue
Richards
