Micek Music

Excerpted from a speech by Susan Clark, flute teacher and new MTAC president: - It has been proven that studying music at a young improves a child's (and adult's) math skills. Fractions translate directly to Rhythm; Sets and Intersecting Sets are nothing more than musical keys and related keys. Private music study, and the practice required to learn the music, makes musicians excellent project managers, able to plan ahead toward individual or group goals. Musicians are able to manage time wisely and able to handle multiple projects at once, taking responsibility for each outcome. - Much of musical training has to do with identifying and mastering patterns in everything from compositional structure to technical passages. Musicians can apply that ability to working environments, including computer technology. Those with musical aptitude and training have the closest match to persons with the personality and skills to be successful in today's technical world. - Musici

Susan Clark is a flute teacher and the newly inaugurated MTAC President. Her July 6, 2009 acceptance speech is published in the Fall 2009 issue of the MTAC publication "The California Music Teacher". It contains many passages that I find inspiring. Here are some excerpts: "So ... we are all music teachers. We all go through the same grind of scheduling the students who have chosen us as a teacher, teaching them the basics and the intricacies of the instrument they have chosen to play and we have chosen to teach, and then collecting our due payment for instruction. We coddle the slow-learners and revel in the joy of teaching those who catch on quickly... We keep our distance from stuffy noses and coughs... We deal with late arrivals, and those who hang around after lessons when we wish they would leave. We juggle our own lives to allow time for teaching and end up juggling the students' lives as well, as they try to find a balance between school and sports and mus

I "moved" to a new home in Castro Valley on Oct. 1, but the truth is my wife and I have been in a state of limbo, sleeping at my parents house and working on refurbishing our *new* home in the meantime. The previous tenant left all kinds of rubbish and general disrepair for us to tend to. What a kind woman! (<-----that is cynicism) It has been two weeks of near-constant graft and labor. Finally, last night we were able to finish enough of our interior work to sleep in our new house. I am hopeful that stability will return to my life as we continue settling in over the coming weeks. This period of my life has been challenging, but also encouraging. We have the opportunity to shape a home in the way that we would like (assuming we're willing to put in the work!). Just thought I'd drop a note to let anyone interested know what's been going on lately. This move is like starting over. Jesse

-- My teaching schedule will be uninterrupted during the month of October. -- I am in the process of moving into a new home in Castro Valley, and thus may be a bit slower in responding to communications (especially email). Bear with me - I should be settled in from mid-month onwards. Have a happy day, Jesse