愿者上钩
Shuhann mentioned yesterday that the low retention of juniors is due to many alumni members staying back in the ensemble. Hence, by not actively interacting with the juniors, they leave the ensemble within a short time.
I was quite puzzled by that remark. I found it rather a sweeping comment actually. What has low retention of juniors got to do with alumni seniors? There's only less than 10 of us seperated in 4 sections and we could cause such a drastic effect? weird. I find it rather lame to be pushing this blame all over the place. GENUS used to blame committee members, SLs and year 3s for not making the group homely to 1st year juniors hence leading to them quitting. I remember the poor committee members rushing down to stop juniors and lugged them to saturday dinners. Good attempt I must say. And now, this blame has shifted to alumni seniors? What a joke. Then why don't we say that the tutors and conductor are lousy? Their commitment has degressed over the years hence leading to juniors quitting? Or that the PO/SO system piloted by the tutors to answer CFA's cry for better standards had a hand in it as well? Similarly one-sided and biased opinions.
Juniors come and go. That's how it is. We have seen batches with high quality juniors playing for one or two years and leaving the group soon after, similarly, beginners who last many years and are still passionately engaged in guitar music making. No doubt the environment provides conditions, push and pull factors but eventually, we want juniors who stay in the group because of their love for music and the interaction with music-lovers. GENUS has many existing route plans which enhance bonding between members already, such as the music camp, mid-autumn celebrations, rehearsal teas, Xmas party, concerts, Welcome teas and such. These activities are sufficient. I'm in a wind band with no such enhancement features and many of the players there stay on to play for many years. We've never blamed the committee or the alumni bassoonist for not interacting and leading to people quitting.
Ultimately, we need to focus on the long run and make GENUS as nourishing and enjoyable as possible.
6 comments:
just one simple point.. if i am a junior pushed into a group with lotz of oldies around, i wouldnt want to hang around for long, ESPEICALLY when nobody bothers to guide me and talk to me during practices. Period. (with the exception of the rare hard-core ensemble-loving guitarist.. how rare is that??)
Hhmm.. 10 members cant make a BIG difference? lets see how "small" this difference is when all 10 dont show up for practice once of these days.. we can get to test it soon, actually. :P
no point comparing with Wind ensemble... in the first place, does the wind ensemble accept novice/beginners members? i guess not.. in there, i guess everyone is really a musician in his/her own right. Not so in Genus tho.. many folks join/stay in Genus becos of friendships, bonding and stuff.. not exactly becos they "LOVE" guitar music or have a deep passion for Bach. :P
Also, this is not a 'blaming' issue. I was just making an observation, and my opinion. Of cos, you are entitled to your own. E.g. conductor & tutors are lousy, Comm is hopeless, etc.
Yah, it's what you'd do and it doesn't apply to every junior who has left. People come and go in music groups, depending on circumstances. I just find it sweeping to directly and singularly relate to the presence of alumni. Each individual can have their very own different reasons for leaving the group.
I wouldn't mind hanging around with oldies if the conductor was Manji/Koyama though. =) Haha then again that's just me only.
I don't think the comm is hopeless for that matter, not at all. In fact, I think they have done the best they can in many aspects this year. I believe many seniors would have experienced weirder committee make-ups, should be thankful for the current dedicated team.
Of course I won't say the conductor/tutors are lousy, but somewhat not as pro-active as I would expect.
Agreed - Juniors leave for various reasons. However, the point i was trying to make was the fact that over the last decade, the changing circumstances that resulted in an "aging" population in Genus (ie. much higher % of year 4s, ALumni) IS a major contributing factor to many juniors feeling neglected and hence leaving the group 'prematurely'.
IMHO, 1st years join GEnus for a few reasons, namely:
1) have some interest in guitar, and want to learn more (somemore its free! )
2) to socialise with peers and enjoy the company amongst friends
3) enjoy playing music in a group (ie. ensemble)
Look, of those 1st years who were put directly into the 'so-called' PO this year (2005-06), how many are still around now? Correct me if i am wrong. I think it is ZERO.
These players were put into an ensemble where they were not given specific guidance, and were merely thrown some scores to play in ensemble. remember - no sectionals even!
They were put into an ensemble with many lao-jiaos who can already play the pieces, but generally dont interact with them much or bother to guide them along.
They cant really sight-read the pieces, so they dont feel they are contributing to the ensemble sound, much less enjoying group music-making.
As i said, it is not about 'blaming' who n who.. In fact, it is only natural that oldies tend to stick to oldies (the 4th years and older tend to have more topics in common, than they have with say, a 1st year junior). Neither am i making the sweeping statement "Alumnis caused the mass exodus of juniors in genus!".
My point is - the changing dynamics and makeup (read: many more oldies staying back) of Genus over the years has resulted in a kind of 'polarisation' in the ensemble, which is a strong contributing factor in juniors being unable to settle in amongst peers, and eventually opting to quit.
have you thought what genus will be like if about half of the alumni quit next year? i think it's highly possible.
i think it's becos of the large group of alumni, that's why dominic thinks there's not need for sectionals. he thinks he's so clever that he knows the situation better than us.
if everyone thinks that sectionals can have so many extra benefits, why doesn't anybody raise the matter with him? to make sectionals part of our saturday's practice. remember the times when we take section photos, have jokes among the section? thought it was like bonding time also, of course, at the same time, making sure we could play.
i think genus is just the same as before, with people who can play/cannot play. worse thing is, we don't have sectionals, we can't train future ACs, CMs. nowadays, the CM's role is only planning. this results in the people who can't play, remain as the "can't play people".
anyway, if things remain status quo, we don't have to worry about the juniors leaving. i think most probably the drop out rate from the seniors/alumni will be higher, and the standard of genus will go back to where it started, without many seniors/alumni.
Good points, Yen (i assume u r a Genus Alumni?). The issue of Sectionals HAS been brought up several times before. I myself have spoken with Dominic rgding the matter. But like you said, unless and until he hears the ensemble without the seniors/alumni, he will continue to assume everyone can (more or less) play, and that Sectionals are a waste of time.
Anyway, this issue of seniors/alumni leaving Genus is also related to the one Owls brought up rgding the formation of a separate entity or group. I am a firm believer that it is time Genus goes back to its "roots" - ie. allowing UNDERGRADUATES to come in and enjoy LEARNING guitar playing and to experience PERFORMANCE on stage, while at the same time growing strong bonds and relationships with friends and peers in the group.
I can see many advantages-
1) back to weekly sectionals and as the members are majority 1st - 3rd year undergrads, they may be more comfortable with one another (similiar age group mah :P) and hence more interaction and bonding
2) more performance opportunities for younger members, esp. in terms of the small groups. No more Alumni/super seniors small groups to hold the fort, hence they will have to step forward more and be more proactive in forming their own groupings.
3) Alumni members who are serious in guitar music have an outlet to play amongst like-minded and competent players of their level. Can play more interesting/challenging pieces and more time efficient (no sectionals!), which is ideal for busy working adults as well.
4) With a better performing standard ensemble to 'represent' CFA, the office may relent and take the 'heat' off Genus. *frankly, i never believed the ROI crap that CFA pushed on us 2 yrs ago..no what to do, they own the instruments, studios..*
Sounds like back to the PO / SO system doesnt it? haha.. in fact it IS! maybe with 1 (major) difference:
Let the conductor stay with Genus. The new entity (if it is formed) shall be a self-run ensemble. haha! :)
Have the junior attrition rates gone up that much? Because as far as I can remember it has always been like this. Or maybe the problem had already been existent by then?
I've never thought socialising or lack of it to be a problem, since most of the socialising that I remember occurs within the batch rather than with the seniors, or at least that was the case for me back in year 1 (sharing practice woes, freshman concerns, planning the annual xmas party, camp games and whatnot).
I guess most students in NUS are primarily students (the chao muggers who made it all the way), rather than musicians, and to compare them to an external recreational group with a common musical interest is not really fair. How many people actually join Genus to enjoy the music element?
Anyway, the formation of a separate ensemble seems like a good idea, because I've always thought that the two main driving forces of people to join Genus can sometimes conflict with each other. People who join the ensemble for fun would probably quit because of the way they perceive practices nowadays as being all practice and no fun (though I think it's quite ironic that the people in pursuit of music aren't satisfied either because there is no new input, nor much quality musical direction). So a new separate ensemble... especially the minus director/conductor part...sounds terribly appealing, doesn't it?
-(moo)-
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