Essential skills for promoting a lifelong love of music and music making: part 3 of 4: risks and rewards.

Essential skills for promoting a lifelong love of music and music making: part 3 of 4: risks and rewards. The question of what we mean by musical "skill"fascinates me, so I was delighted to be asked to contribute to thisworthy series. Certainly, essential skills--substantial skills for alifetime--are what we genuinely hope to impart as teachers. Yet,it's all too possible for a student to learn one piece after theother for years and not really develop essential skills in the process.What should we be looking for Looking forIn the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. ? If we see a high school clarinetistmarching smartly up and down the football field in perfect cadence perfect cadencewhere the dominant passes into the harmony of the tonic chord. [Music: Thompson, 333]See : Perfection withthe others in her prize-winning band, never missing a note in the trickyarrangement, what skills has she acquired? It's hard to tell. Shemay be responding wholeheartedly whole��heart��ed?adj.Marked by unconditional commitment, unstinting devotion, or unreserved enthusiasm: wholehearted approval.whole to music and all its vital elements. Orshe may find if she goes to college and majors in music, that shecan't actually figure out rhythms on her own, or sing, improvise im��pro��vise?v. im��pro��vised, im��pro��vis��ing, im��pro��vis��esv.tr.1. To invent, compose, or perform with little or no preparation.2. ,play or move expressively. And some high school players, as we know,pack up the horn on graduation day Graduation Day refers to: The date on which one receives an academic degree or similar designation, see Graduation "Graduation Day, Part One" and "Graduation Day, Part Two", two episodes of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer never to play it again.Often, at pedagogy conferences, we witness prodigiously talentedfourteen-year-olds taking a master lesson in huge pieces like Prokofievsonatas The following is a list of musical pieces that belong to the category, Sonata. Classical (ca 1760 – ca 1830) Haydn Sonata in C Major (H. XVI:3 / WU 14) (c1765) Sonata in D Major (H. or Chopin scherzos. Their achievement is awesome. But sometimes,even though the teacher's suggestions are inspiring, inviting,encouraging and clearly intended to engage the student'simagination, the student--after listening dutifully--proceeds to playwith precisely the same inflections as before. And those inflections arebeginning to seem a bit too programmed. What skills are in evidence--andnot in evidence?Or consider the college piano student, carefully groomed to tapereach Mozartean phrase just so, and deliver sharp accents in Bartok. Whatskills does he have? Might he be primarily an accomplished mimic,Faithfully cloning the teacher's interpretation, the teacher'smusical instinct? Or is his own creative self, blossoming, maturing,finding an authentic voice?One way to look at this issue is to delineate two categories ofskills. I've often described these as "outer" and"inner" skills, and they complement each other beautifully.(1) Competencies such as singing on pitch, counting rhythms accurately,understanding the basics of style and developing finger technique("outer skills") are essential, to be sure. And satisfying tomaster, too! But so are the profoundly rewarding, if harder to define,"inner skills"--playing from the heart, enjoying rhythmicvitality with the whole body, expressing and creating and truly speakingthe spontaneous language of music. These skills give joy to theperformer and the audience, and evince e��vince?tr.v. e��vinced, e��vinc��ing, e��vinc��esTo show or demonstrate clearly; manifest: evince distaste by grimacing. a deep connection to music andits elements.Ability to Work Creatively--Improvise, Compose, Harmonize and Playby EarImportance: These are all ways to make music our own and share theimpulse with others--not on stage, but in more "everyday"settings. Obviously, the four creative skills mentioned here all deservea much more thorough discussion than we can attempt in this article, butwe can touch briefly on each.Solo improvisation can be as immediate and truthful as musicalexpression ever gets--"What feelings are occurring within me rightthis moment? And how are they evolving in the next few moments?"There's no need for judgment, and no comparison with anyone else.Sometimes improvisation focuses less on feelings and more on the livelyimagination itself, given free rein to roam, make up stories, try newthings. In any case, improvisation is fun, flowing, healthy, evencathartic cathartic(kəthär`tĭk): see laxative. . An interesting benefit is that improvisers who really are"getting into it" tend to produce tones of remarkable colorand variety--a "connected" sort of tone. As StephenNachmanovitch sums tip the dynamic quality of improvisation in hiscompelling book Free Play, "The noun of self becomes a verb."(2)Group improvisation ranks among the purest delights music canoffer. If you are in a drumming circle and, after some experimentation,the group somehow comes up with a rich, funky, humorous rhythmic groovethat none of you thought of individually (but all contributed to), thegenuine belly laugh you share afterward is richly fulfilling. Accordingto according toprep.1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.2. In keeping with: according to instructions.3. Nachmanovitch, Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo da Vinci(də vĭn`chē, Ital. lāōnär`dō dä vēn`chē), 1452–1519, Italian painter, sculptor, architect, musician, engineer, and scientist, b. near Vinci, a hill village in Tuscany. kept his creativity stimulatedthrough group improvisation with his friends--they liked to make tipfanciful operas and sing all the parts. (3)Composing is creating in a more thought-out way--making astructured statement in the language of music. When composing, we canrevise, plan, construct and manipulate musical elements in originalways. One of the most impressive ways in which piano teaching hasimproved in recent years is the greatly increasing numbers of teacherswho routinely integrate composing into the musical journey of all theirstudents. This wise approach was practically unknown when I was a child.Harmonizing and playing by ear are functional and extremely useful"outer skills." Can every piano performance major in collegesit down at a party and improvise a confident rendition of HappyBirthday to You, with all the right chords? People expect them to beable to do this, and they are quite right to expect it. if diligentmusic majors can't utilize a basic skill to share a familiar songwith others, then what exactly are they learning in school?Suggestions: Even though we know it's essential to improvise,the very word "improvisation" can cause the chill of fear togrip our chests; what if we embarrass embarrass/em��bar��rass/ (em-bar��as) to impede the function of; to obstruct. em��bar��rassv.To interfere with or impede (a bodily function or part). ourselves in front of others byfumbling badly or drawing a blank? One technique that helped meimprovise more comfortably came from the remarkable grassrootsorganization Music for People, whose workshops I heartily recommend. Icall this "Atonal a��ton��al?adj. MusicLacking a tonal center or key; characterized by atonality.a��tonal��ly adv. Improvisation" and have had a wonderful timepassing it on to students and fellow teachers. The only ground rule? NOTRIADS--at least no polite diatonic di��a��ton��ic?adj. MusicOf or using only the seven tones of a standard scale without chromatic alterations.[Late Latin diatonicus, from Greek diatonikos : dia-, dia- ones like A minor or G major. Onlydissonance is allowed, and the more random the better. We don'twant wrong-note anxiety to be the bugaboo.A simple format for implementing atonal improvisation at the pianois Ostinato/Solo. Sit with your student duet-style, with the student inthe treble. Start the "ostinato ostinato:see ground bass. "--some sort of atmospheric(dissonant dis��so��nant?adj.1. Harsh and inharmonious in sound; discordant.2. Being at variance; disagreeing.3. Music Constituting or producing a dissonance. ) soundscape sound��scape?n.An atmosphere or environment created by or with sound: the raucous soundscape of a city street; a play with a haunting soundscape. , with repetitive patterns. Perhaps a moodyunderwater one--think 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea with creepy creep��y?adj. creep��i��er, creep��i��est Informal1. Of or producing a sensation of uneasiness or fear, as of things crawling on one's skin: a creepy feeling; a creepy story.2. overlapping harmonies and lots of mushy mush��y?adj. mush��i��er, mush��i��est1. Resembling mush in consistency; soft.2. Informala. Excessively sentimental. See Synonyms at sentimental.b. pedal. The student listens for abit and then adds, expressively, an atonal, free solo. Just about anynotes will sound good, if imagination and spirit are there. Do notcomment or evaluate at all; just delve into the feeling. Create a niceending together, share a good laugh and say, "Let's trysomething different!" Now it's a spiky spik��y?adj. spik��i��er, spik��i��est1. Having one or more projecting sharp points.2. Grouchy or cross in temperament.spik , aggressive bunch ofsyncopated syn��co��pate?tr.v. syn��co��pat��ed, syn��co��pat��ing, syn��co��pates1. Grammar To shorten (a word) by syncope.2. Music To modify (rhythm) by syncopation. staccatos, jazz, Fast and crazy. The student senses thisdifferent energy and jumps in. Afterwards, you can reverse roles, withthe student making up the ostinato and the mood--and there has to be amood, not just random abstract patterns. Exercises like these are fun,vanquish the fear and thus make later "tonal" improvisationseasier to try.Playing by ear--finding chord structures readily--is tricky toteach, I find. Some people seem to have known from birth how to do this,while others are mystified mys��ti��fy?tr.v. mys��ti��fied, mys��ti��fy��ing, mys��ti��fies1. To confuse or puzzle mentally. See Synonyms at puzzle.2. To make obscure or mysterious. . Those who do have the knack aren'talways clear about how they do it, and this makes it hard to explain toothers. I did have good hick recently, though, with a graduate studentwho was highly motivated to improve at keyboard An 84-key keyboard introduced with the PC AT in 1984. It corrected the non-standard placement of the PC's return and left shift keys. See AT keyboard connector and PC keyboards. harmony; he didn'ttrust his ear and would panic when he had to find chords. Here'swhat we did: the idea was to take one song, a familiar one that movesnicely through the basic chords, and become really fluent in it. Wechose that old cowboy standby Red River Valley See also the Red River disambiguation page.The Red River Valley is a region in central North America that is drained by the Red River of the North. , and it served us verywell. It has a satisfying harmonic sequence with just enough movement: From this valley they say you are going I I (7) IV We will miss your bright eyes and sweet smile I V For they say you are taking the sunshine I I (7) IV That has brightened our path for a while V (7) ISeated at two pianos, we did it in three or four keys to begin, andultimately, in every key. One of us would play the tune in octaves,while the other supplied only the chords, "oom-pah style" withopen octaves in the left hand and triads in the right. We would switchroles frequently, without any break in the tempo. "Becomingfluent" meant moving around the keyboard registers freely, findingthe triads anywhere our hand happened to fall and using smoothvoice-leading to shift from one triad to the next. At first the studenthesitated with the chord changes and fumbled quite often, messing upaccidentals in the tune as we jumped from key to key and so on. Butbecause the song is short and straightforward, practicing yielded goodresults; after several weeks more fluency began to kick in, and hisconfidence along with it. (Yes, several weeks--you really have to stickwith it.) It's a great help to do this at two pianos because thesonority so��nor��i��ty?n. pl. so��nor��i��ties1. The quality or state of being sonorous; resonance.2. A sound.3. Linguistics The degree to which a speech sound is like a vowel. is always big and full, and the tempo keeps going, as opposedto the fragmentary frag��men��tar��y?adj.Consisting of small, disconnected parts: a picture that emerges from fragmentary information.frag sounds the novice harmonizer har��mo��nize?v. har��mo��nized, har��mo��niz��ing, har��mo��niz��esv.tr.1. To bring or come into agreement or harmony. See Synonyms at agree.2. Music To provide harmony for (a melody). tends to produce whenplaying alone.Ability to Respond to the Interpretive Elements of the Compositionin Order to Express Its Emotional CharacterImportance: This skill means going beyond correctness, for example,merely "observing" the crescendo cres��cen��do?n. pl. cres��cen��dos or cres��cen��di1. Abbr. cr. Musica. A gradual increase, especially in the volume or intensity of sound in a passage.b. or the accent, and trulyresponding to the aliveness of musical details. This is a preciousskill, and when a performer has it, it's immediately noticeable toany listener. Teachers and judges talk about "dynamiccontrast" all the time, but is there any intrinsic expressivemeaning when changing abruptly from loud to soft? Not unless we bringintention to the moment. Dynamics themselves have no meaning or humaninterest, and our jobs as performers are not done when we simply haveobeyed the markings. If the passage calls for pianissimo, does thatimply the music is ghostly, or whispering, or dreamy dream��y?adj. dream��i��er, dream��i��est1. Resembling a dream; ethereal or vague.2. Given to daydreams or reverie.3. Soothing and serene.4. or tender? Theremay be several possible "good" answers here; in fact, anyimaginative intention will bring the music to life. The same, of course,holds true for articulations and rhythmic elements--they can be alive ormerely correct.Traditional teaching has not always excelled in this area.Describing emotional import to students, even with the most compellingwords, doesn't necessarily help them make an authentic connection.(And maybe their best connection will turn out to be a different oneanyway!) Conducting while they play, singing along, gesticulating ges��tic��u��late?v. ges��tic��u��lat��ed, ges��tic��u��lat��ing, ges��tic��u��latesv.intr.To make gestures especially while speaking, as for emphasis.v.tr.To say or express by gestures. ,working ourselves into a lather, may be fun for us teachers, butdoesn't necessarily "impart" emotional expressivity expressivity/ex��pres��siv��i��ty/ (eks?pres-siv��i-te) in genetics, the extent to which an inherited trait is manifested by an individual. tothe student. (4) In fact, it can alienate To voluntarily convey or transfer title to real property by gift, disposition by will or the laws of Descent and Distribution, or by sale.For example, a seller may alienate property by transferring to a buyer a parcel of the seller's land containing a house, in , discourage, puzzle or evenfrighten them. So what can we do instead?Suggestions: Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, inventor of eurhythmics eurhythmics:see eurythmics. ,definitely had the right idea here. I'm amazed a��maze?v. a��mazed, a��maz��ing, a��maz��esv.tr.1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise.2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex.v.intr. his innovationsdidn't quite revolutionize music instruction as they might have,but the powerful idea is simple: get away from the instrument andexperience every musical element with your whole body, your whole self.If possible, find a playful way to do it--playfulness expands thecreative range. Then, when you've found expressive vividness andenergized the elements, take that sense back to the instrument and letthe notes flow from it.I find it's essential for teachers to join in thisexploration, not just sit on the sidelines On the sidelinesAn investor who decides not to invest due to market uncertainty.on the sidelinesOf or relating to investors who, having assessed the market, have decided to avoid committing their funds. and direct the student to"dance that phrase." Instead, try some mirroring games. Standopposite your student in the center of the room; take a minute for bothof you to breathe and loosen up. Say to her, "Just do whatever Ido, like an image in the mirror. Match my energy." If the passagein question is a crescendo with a big punctuating accent at the end, forexample, vocalize it (You don't have to sing the exact pitches!)while crouching, then leaping, shouting or whatever you are moved to do.Feel free to overdo it a bit--be theatrical. Try it a couple ways,making them all different; in other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke"put differently , "brainstorm"instead of dictating one interpretation. Be sure the student matchesyour full energy every time. Now say, "OK, you try it" andmirror faithfully whatever she does. Don't evaluate; just sayencouragingly, "Fine, let's see Let's See was a Canadian television series broadcast on CBC Television between September 6, 1952 to July 4, 1953. The segment, which had a running time of 15 minutes, was a puppet show with a character named Uncle Chichimus (voice of John Conway), which presented each a different one!" The keyhere is for the teacher to walk through that "risk taking"door first, inviting the student to come along, too.Exercises like this use two fundamental actions--(1) vocalizing and(2) moving--that comprise our innate expressive impulse, something Icall the "musical self." The "musical self" is thatunabashed, unguarded, physical/emotive responsiveness to music that isso delightfully exhibited by the three-year-old toddlers we know. Thetrick is to preserve that spark past age 3.In addition to those potent and primal response modes, there areother simple ways to explore music's emotive e��mo��tive?adj.1. Of or relating to emotion: the emotive aspect of symbols.2. Characterized by, expressing, or exciting emotion: content for ourselves.Make up a story for each piece, no matter how silly the story may sound,but one that accounts for every event and mood change in the music.Write actual words to lyric melodies--and sing them "withfeeling."Ability to Conceptualize con��cep��tu��al��ize?v. con��cep��tu��al��ized, con��cep��tu��al��iz��ing, con��cep��tu��al��iz��esv.tr.To form a concept or concepts of, and especially to interpret in a conceptual way: and Transfer Musical IdeasImportance: If anything defines the dream student, it's thisskill. You teach something once, and she immediately starts applying theidea autonomously to other situations, thereby truly making it her own.Here, we are talking about recognizing significant "clues" ina musical score and not having to be spoon-fed and guided time aftertime.If students do this, it is a telling sign that they are active, notpassive, partakers of their education. Naturally, we want to fosteractive thinking and engagement, which leads to a lifetime offulfillment.Suggestions: Basically, don't be too helpful--at least not allthe time. This is hard, I know; it's the opposite of who we are asteachers. But, if we really care about our students, we won't makeit easy for them to be mentally passive.One of the most empowering items in my university pianodivision's curriculum is the so-called "One Week Piece."In their junior year, performance majors are given a piece one weekbefore juries; the piece is chosen for the student by a faculty memberother than the student's regular teacher, and the student isforbidden to seek any help at all with it. His assignment is to masterit artistically and technically, up to tempo; memorize mem��o��rize?tr.v. mem��o��rized, mem��o��riz��ing, mem��o��riz��es1. To commit to memory; learn by heart.2. Computer Science To store in memory: it, research itsbackground; explain how it's put together compositionally andstylistically; and present it all in a short lecture/performance for thefaculty--all in one week's time. We don't care This page is about the music single. For the meaning relating to digital logic, see Don't-care (logic)"Don't Care" is a 1994 (see 1994 in music) single by American death metal band Obituary. how he gets itdone; that's his business. In almost every case, the studentpresents himself at the jury with more confidence and maturity than wehad ever seen before, does a great job with the piece and announces witha big smile that although he had been jittery about the projectbeforehand, it only took three days to complete. Any teacher can set upa similar assignment with students, maybe once a year, as a way ofconsolidating skills that have been learned.In lessons, open questions are the key: "What sort of soundmight make this section more special?" "Can you think of somenice ways to add an ornament ornament, in architectureornament,in architecture, decorative detail enhancing structures. Structural ornament, an integral part of the framework, includes the shaping and placement of the buttress, cornice, molding, ceiling, and roof and the capital and or two to that phrase?" Or, if thepassage calls for specific techniques like rotation or arm-staccatos,"Look this over for a minute and tell me what techniques you thinkyou're going to need," and "Describe how you plan topractice this part for the next few days." Two cautions about openquestions: (1) Don't use them all the time, lest they becomecloying and irritating, and (2) Don't let them descend into aversion of "Read my Mind--there's only one answer I want tohear," because this makes students understandably cynical. At theirbest, though, open questions can make teaching a thrill; it's afine moment, indeed, when you can listen to the student's creativeanswer and truthfully say, "What a great idea for that passage; Inever would have thought of it!"Ability to Perform Comfortably in a Variety of SettingsImportance: it's perfectly all right to study piano for our"own enjoyment" with no ambition to perform for others. But afulfilling new dimension opens up when we do perform for others, onethat gives deeper import to the whole journey of learning and mastery.Performing is the step that pulls it all together, on many levels.Expression of any kind is certainly much more real and alive when thereare actual people on hand to receive it, especially people whohaven't heard the material before. Your after-dinner speech mayhave been rehearsed many times at home, but once the audience is thereand you have a well-prepared message you are eager to impart, yourdelivery springs to life as never before. And if your joke gets a goodlaugh, you are transformed, energized--hooked into the palpableexcitement of give-and-take with your audience. Your message takes onnew meaning. Music, perhaps the richest language of all, forms asimilarly satisfying circuit between performer, message and audience.Equally important, going on stage truly puts our nuts-and-boltswork on technique and memory to the test. There may be some surprises,yes, but it is only in performance that we discover what we'vereally mastered. The parts that go well become solidified as neverbefore. Minor fumbles show us with new clarity what bits of unfinishedbusiness there may be.Ultimately, when we have worked through those steps, we can savorwhat it feels like to know we've thoroughly made that piece ofmusic "our own." Once again, risk leads to reward.Suggestions: The key word in the heading to this section, ofcourse, is "comfortably." Here are a few ways to increase ourcomfort in the pressure of the limelight:1. Learn to memorize methodically. Nothing can be moredisconcerting dis��con��cert?tr.v. dis��con��cert��ed, dis��con��cert��ing, dis��con��certs1. To upset the self-possession of; ruffle. See Synonyms at embarrass.2. than the fear that our minds will go blank on stage, inways that never happened before. And, as we know, this happens all thetime, so it's an understandable fear and one that can cause a dreadof performing. To me, the most powerful tool here boils down to beingable to re-create in advance the piece in your mind in exhaustivedetail, naming everything, picturing everything and explaining toyourself why it is so--away from the keyboard and without moving amuscle. And be sure to do this within a few hours of your performance.The comfort level will soar!2. Perform a lot. It's essential to find out about ourselves,and how our own mind and nervous system respond to the performingexperience. No teacher can do this for us, and practicing in a roomwon't do it. The more times we perform, the more we becomeaccustomed to the physical sensation of excitement/ nervousness, theracing of our thoughts; as we learn to manage these, our enjoyment ofcommunicating through music continues to grow.3. Practice expressing and performing away from the piano. Americansociety is not the most demonstrative LEGACY, DEMONSTRATIVE. A demonstrative legacy is a bequest of a certain sum of money; intended for the legatee at all events, with a fund particularly referred to for its payment; so that if the estate be not the testator's property at his death, the legacy will not fail: but be payable in the world; we mumble 1. mumble - Said when the correct response is too complicated to enunciate, or the speaker has not thought it out. Often prefaces a longer answer, or indicates a general reluctance to get into a long discussion. a lot andtend to be less passionate in our gestures than some other cultures. Andit's not unusual for piano students to be rather reserved types aswell. We don't even have to face the audience when we perform! Soit can be a freeing new experience to play expressive games away fromthe instrument, just as a way to get used to sharing spontaneousfeelings or responses with others. For example, put on a recording ofmusic that is powerful and mercurial mercurial/mer��cu��ri��al/ (mer-kur��e-il)1. pertaining to mercury.2. a preparation containing mercury.mer��cu��ri��aladj. , like a Mahler symphony or the StarWars soundtrack. Pair off with a partner; establish eye contact andstart enacting the music with your whole bodies, taking turns leadingwhile the other person mirrors every move.4. Play something "weird" and modern. On many occasionsI've seen reticent performers turn into dramatic "stageanimals" simply because I coerced them into learning and performingsome dissonant, vividly graphic modern music--music they promptlyannounced to me they hated because it wasn't "pretty."For one thing, it gives them great comfort to know if they falter hereor there and need to make up some notes, no one is likely to notice.More importantly, since the atonal language won't make"sense" on its own to much of the audience, the only way forthe performance to come across is if the player becomes an actor ofsorts, striking a suspenseful body pose to dramatize dram��a��tize?v. dram��a��tized, dram��a��tiz��ing, dram��a��tiz��esv.tr.1. To adapt (a literary work) for dramatic presentation, as in a theater or on television or radio.2. a rest, bringingmysterious mood to the pianissimo, hunching ferociously when the musicgrowls. Playing "weird" music gives students permission to trythings they just wouldn't dream of when playing Mozart or Schubert,and they end up loving the very music they didn't think they wantedto play. The experience is creative, it's liberating, it gives themthe idea, "Hey, I'm a performer after all!"ConclusionIf lessons can help develop inner skills, they are accomplishingsomething very special. Having the chance to connect to these skills isexactly the reason many people feel drawn to music lessons in the firstplace. Let's face it, though--it's not always easy to focus onthe "inner" realm. There's risk involved. But ateacher-student relationship based on mutual respect and honesty, withplenty of room for playfulness, can help provide a fertile, reassuringground for nurturing growth in this area.The original seed is there--that "musical self." As weget older, we still have it, but opening up to it--risking embarrassmentor criticism--takes more trust and courage. I guess trusting is always arisky business in life. That's where the reward comes in, ofcourse. Risk-taking makes us feel truly alive, and we can senseourselves learning and growing.NOTES(1.) Westney, William. The Perfect Wrong Note: Learning to TrustYour Musical Self. (Pompton Plains, NJ: Amadeus Press, 2003): 32-35.(2.) Nachmanovitch, Stephen. Free Play: Improvisation in Life andArt. (Los Angeles Los Angeles(lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. : Jeremy P. Tarcher, 1990): 52.(3.) Ibid., 7.(4.) Westney, 46.William Westney, distinguished professor at Texas Tech University,is an award-winning educator and pianist (Geneva Geneva, canton and city, SwitzerlandGeneva(jənē`və), Fr. Genève, canton (1990 pop. 373,019), 109 sq mi (282 sq km), SW Switzerland, surrounding the southwest tip of the Lake of Geneva. InternationalCompetition). Creator of the acclaimed "Un-Master Class[c]"workshop, he is author of the book The Perfect Wrong Note.