[Trombone-l] Blazhevich Clef Studies

[Robert Holland]

East-West Music International, Inc. is the current copyright owner of 
the Blazhevich catalog. None of the U.S. editions of the pedagogical 
works such as the Sequences, Clef Studies, etc. were legal, so they're 
all now out of print until East-West Music publishes its new editions, 
which I believe are in the works, along with the solos and concertos. I 
don't know when the new editions will be available and my contact at 
East-West Music hasn't yet responded to my inquiry. If I find out more, 
I'll let everyone know.

As many of you know, Briar Music Press licensed the ensemble works of 
Blazhevich from East-West Music and has been publishing them over time 
(many not yet available), most for the first time. I received a couple 
inquiries off-list if Briar would be publishing the Clef Studies. There 
are currently no plans for that.

Paul Kemp wrote:

> When I started learning clefs 30 years ago, my teacher "took me by the 
> seat
> of the pants and threw me into the Blazhevich Clef Studies" and it was
> either sink or swim. I swam.
>
> I don't use that approach with my students. However, there is one valid
> point to using that approach. It really makes students pay attention to
> details and forces them to practice slowly.
>
> In reality, Blazhevich teaches much more than clefs. We must realize 
> that
> clefs are simply a means to an end, and that all of the other aspects 
> of
> learning the musical language must come into play in addition to the
> learning of the clefs. Blazhevich actually does a very good job 
> driving that
> point home.
>
> There are not too many teachers that believe in putting students 
> through the
> rigors that the teachers of yesteryear did, and I believe that is quite
> unfortunate.

I'm only familiar with the International Music Company edition of the 
Clef Studies edited by Allen Ostrander. The musical quality of those 
studies is quite high in comparison to the Fink book, though the 
Blazhevich is certainly much more difficult. I like the idea of 
challenging students more rather than less, but that's not everyone's 
cup of tea. (Clearly, many students quit lessons and even the 
instrument once the difficulty rises high enough to require real work.)

> What's really coming out of middle school programs today? At a time 
> where
> these kids should be having a solid grasp of the nuts and bolts of the
> musical language, it is appalling how many kids are weighed in the 
> balances
> and found wanting. It is no wonder why many intelligent kids grapple 
> with
> very real frustration.

I don't want to launch into an unnecessary diatribe here, but I'll 
chime in briefly to agree that it's appalling. It's a much wider 
circle, however, than merely what's going on in music programs. The 
less said at this point perhaps the better.

Robert Holland, Publisher
Briar Music Press
briar at rcn.com
www.briarmusic.com