I had a great amazing band director say that tuning problems
can be because of hearing problems. Some people don't have
as many of the little hairs in the cochlea as others, so
fine tuning is harder for them. This might be the case with
this student.
Our high school teacher, has had this problem, and made the
student like an IA. They took roll, taught him how to
conduct, and he lead the warm-ups, and maybe one song for a
school concert, also had him introduce each song at the
concerts. Eventually, he had him learn the bass, and did a
few jazz numbers with him on bass. So, the student was part
of the choir, but used in a different way.

BUT, it still sounds like you still need to have a heart to
heart with the student and scope out how he feels.

val

On 11/03/09, PK-5 Music Teacher wrote:
> Interesting that Steve mentioned a family member who
> played clarinet but
> couldn't hear pitches or sing them well.
>
> I had a friend just like that in the field band I was
> in. We went to the same music school and had sight
> singing tests, etc. She had to think
> "augmented" to hit major.
>
> It did not affect her ability to play in tune (still
> don't know how). She was dropped from the music course
> and sent to OJT (On the Job Training) with a band---
>
> --the difference being that she had to work at that
> band 6 months before she was an official clarinet
> player in our field bands instead of graduating music
> school with the job guaranteed.
>
> just another story to share, not sure if it's worth two
> cents after inflation.
>
> PK-5

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