#StuffstudentsSay
Student: Fifth position is the South Dakota of the trombone. Nobody likes South Dakota.
Me: I actually had some friends who were thinking of moving there during the pandemic. Student: ...on purpose??? Me: I was in a band with a guy who would always accidentally hurt himself. One time he sprained his ankle going to the van to get Tums because he had heartburn after one beer.
Student: Are you even of legal drinking age??? Was listening to the music from Snow Mountain on Mario 64 with a student, working on finding a new song for them, and we both added in the missing penguin cries at the same time.
Student: It just doesn't sound right without the penguin sounds. Teaching is fun enough already, but getting to relive your childhood vicariously through your student's music choices is even better. *talking to a student about dreams, especially nightmares*
Student: You know those classic LEGO faces, with the smiley face? One time I had a dream that had pregnant women with those faces everywhere. Any psychologist friends out there want to explain this one? 😆 *the end of a group lesson devolves into mostly one of the students telling jokes*
Student 1: This is the kind of thing you should be posting on that section of your website where you put student quotes. Student 1 [slightly judgmentally]: I noticed you haven't put anything up in a while. Me: Well, I normally put them on Facebook first, then update them to my website a couple times a year. Student 1: Oh, well, I don't have Facebook. Student 2: Neither do I. Me: I don't friend students anyway. Student 2: Well I'll just have to make a fake profile. If someone named Sam Woorthers-Field added you, would you add them back? If you didn't also picture Sam Woorthers-Field as an old man with a monocle, you're wrong Student: On band tour we had a dance party on a boat, and I did the worm on a boat.
He then did the worm in his lesson. It's not the first time a student has tried doing the worm in a lesson, but it was the best one of my students has done the worm in a lesson Me: Play this [Danny Boy] like you would sing it –
Student: I only sing like a Minion. *student proceeds to sing "Banana", like a Minion, to the tune of Danny Boy* Somedays you're reminded that setting foot in a middle school is both the right choice and exactly the wrong choice at the same time Student: You should be a [music] producer, because then you can get paid to make people create crappy music.
*I show student the tuba part for Mahler's Das Lied Von Der Erde, which has about 10 seconds of playing in the whole hour-long piece*
Student: Why would someone write a piece that long?? Or play it? I think I'd fall asleep... Me: It's incredible music, so you maybe wouldn't. He wrote some symphonies that were an hour and a half or longer. Student: That guy has issues. Me: Well, he did have some mental health issues. Student: OBVIOUSLY *student grabs two cookies, obviously for himself, from post-concert party cookie tray*
Band Director: Hey, who's the second cookie for? Am I going to have to send someone from one of the other bands after you when someone doesn't get a cookie? Student: Uuuh, I was grabbing one for John. *walks over and hands me the second cookie* Good save |
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I have been teaching music across the Twin Cities since 2011. Along with seeing students grow as musicians and people, one of the joys of teaching is the ridiculous things my students say. Archives
October 2022
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