GRADING SYSTEM


I will be evaluating your performance based on the following system. In the future, please avail yourself of my example and evaluate your own performances . I feel grading is potentially quite a valuable means of documenting your performances for the purpose of self improvement. It is a means of helping you remember exactly what aspects of your playing to improve. It is a means of documenting your progress and performance for your own reference far into the future. It is a means of recognizing your own highest achievement on the instrument. Please use this system as a means of acknowledging errors for the purpose of pursuing excellence- not for the purpose of self deprecation.

Note: If you receive a grade of 96% in at least one lesson and a grade of 90% in at least one lesson, you are eligible to try to test out of the entire course whenever you choose to. Then we can focus on spotanaeous questions and "problem solving"- just record any performance you like for me and if you ask questions, I will critique your performance.

Grading System:

If you stop playing without even trying or if you cannot play the material acceptably at all I give you between 0% and 65% = "F" = failing. Not acceptable or correct. However, failing is a great opportunity to learn and try again!

66% - 69% = "D" = extremely poor.
Please try to react with sincere effort to improve not with self deprecation. Please try to make it easy on yourself. (for example simplify or take an easier tempo). Please pay attention. Please do your best to observe your mistakes objectively. Act quickly and thoroughly to improve. Try not to deny your weak points. See your mistakes as good opportunities, not bad traumas. Have a sense of humor. This performance sucks, but it can be a good eye opener - a saving wake up call if you will.

70% - 73% = barely fair ="C-"
This performance is not good, but at least you are not scraping the bottom of the barrel.

74% - 76% = fair = "C"
This is the midpoint between failing and excellence. This musical performance is mediocre. Please have a seeking attitude and advance towards excellence.

77% - 79% = OK= "C+"
This performance is ok. I am not jumping up and down, but it's ok. Satisfactory.

80% - 83% = pretty good = "B-"
This performance is pretty good, with a few minor problems here and there. Congratulations don't stop now.

84% - 86% = good = "B"
This performance warrants a solid "B" a good quality performance. Just advance forward.

87% - 89% = very good = "B+"
This is very nice. No major problems at all. Never give up.

90% - 93% = excellent = "A-"
Great! Almost perfect. Way to go. This is an ideal performance. This is what I am referring to when I encourage you to strive for excellence or immediate mastery. Now please go for that "extra mile".

94% - 95% = exceptional = "A"
Setting aside minor detail, this performance warrants a perfect score: there were no mistakes. Now think musically and keep on going for the gold.

96% = technically accurate.
Gold medal. I have No complaints. Very musical. Accurate attention to detail.

97% = technically accurate plus confident as well.

98% = technically accurate, plus super confident, plus exhibiting some measure of clever musical intelligence.

99% = technically accurate + confident plus moving.

100% = technically accurate + confident + clever + moving + uplifting for the human spirit.

This whole system is for affording the student a means for quantifying his/her performance in order to track his/her progress.

Please don't allow lower grades to discourage you. In my view a poor musical performance doesn't make you a bad person. Nor does a good musical performance make you a good person, so please don't allow poor grades to give you a low self image. Also, please don't allow high grades to make you arrogant or over confident.

PLUS: Here are additional points I give. These additional points I call x points: receiving any one of these xpoints constitutes getting an A PLUS if the performer already has a 90% score or better :-) getting all four x points is my absolute highest assessment on a par with legendary individuals of various fields of endeavour from the past or present.

Here are the x points:

"X#1" = Super confident. You exhibit quite a flair, style, aplomb. Thank you so much for exhibiting such artistry. To me, Paganini is an example of flair and confidence.
-born in Genoa, 27 October 1782; died Nice, 27 May 1840, by his technique and his extreme personal magnetism he was not only the most famous violin virtuoso but drew attention to the significance of virtuosity as an element in art.
- Grove Dictionary

"X#2" = Exhibiting some measure of ingenuity or genius. Humble thanks for your genius example. To me, Stevie Wonder is a wonderful example of musical genius.
-The boy wonder burst onto the music scene when he was just ten years old, and his mission ever since has been to bring joy into people's lives. "He has been pop music's unquenchable optimist for nearly a generation," said The New York Times in 1986. "His skills at writing sinuous melodies and gently uplifting harmonies, and his cheerful yet determined eclecticism - from funk to ballads, bossa nova to quasi-showtunes - have made Mr. Wonder a one-man Tin Pan Alley through two decades of rock."

"X#3" = cathartic or moves someone to tears. I'm feeling this in the depths of my heart. Thank you so much. I feel that Mahalia Jackson is a wonderful example of an artist whose performances exhibit heartfelt emotion and spirit.
- "Mahalia Jackson sang only songs she believed in, positive anthems that uplifted the spirit. The first gospel song Mahalia wrote and recorded was her personal statement: 'I'm Going to Move on Up a Little Higher'".
- thinkquest.org

"X#4" = Moving towards global human happiness in your own way. Profoundly uplifting for the human spirit. Sincere thanks for your rare and praiseworthy example of artistry and mastery. I feel Martin Luther King is a wonderful example of such artistry and mastery. :-) One of the most visible advocates of nonviolence and direct action as methods of social change, Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta on January 15, 1929.

X#5 - exhibits a METARHYTHM = a rhythm which transcends itself. For example the artist plays telepathically with his band mates...or the artist exhibits awareness of past rhythms he played or paces himself well compared to his performance in previous years.

X#6 exhibits some other specific Meta-rhythm.

X#7 exhibits Meta-rhythms too numerous to count - involving a transcendant number like pi.

This whole system was originally designed for affording the student a means for quantifying his/her performance in order to track his/her progress. However, it may hopefully have some value for professional artists as inspiration or as a tool for gaining perspective or as promoting their product.

These grades do not assume that the author is perfect. I hope we all can engage in a journey towards dynamic perfect excellence as musical artists together. In my view a poor musical performance doesn't make one a bad person. Nor does a good musical performance make one a good person, so please don't interpret a poor review to have a negative personal connotation. Also, I hope you don't fall into the typical trap of becoming an arrogant artist based on positive reviews or excellent performances.

Please note the x points are similar to the grades of 97, 98, 99, and 100 respectively, but they reflect the qualities of those grades at an extreme world class level.

I dedicate this system to my late step mom, Doris. Because of her kind love, I have determined to hold myself to the same high standards I hold for the reviewees or my students. :-)

Together:

LET'S ADVANCE! :-)

Overall, I find that DOING MY BEST is the secret key for unlocking excellence. So as artists let's continue to do our best and let's ADVANCE together towards human excellence! :-)

I hope you enjoy the journey and I hope you find, as I do:

THE ARTIST CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! :-)

Peace! :-)