Tara Flandreau

When she has time to spare, Tara is a wonderfully effective coach. She gets to the heart of the problem very quickly and has some immediate suggestions on how to rectify the problem. She will know the very moment or exact measure when someone missed a beat, skipped ahead, hesitated in the music, or just played a rhythm incorrectly. This ability of hers makes it possible to identify the problem area quickly and fix it in a short period of time.

She has a very good ear. She can tell when pitches or chords are even slightly out of tune, and can pinpoint the person(s) in a large ensemble who are causing the group to be out of tune. For string players, she is also able to suggest alternate fingerings and bowings to facilitate better playing.

Another excellent skill she has is that she is able to communicate these criticisms and suggestions in a direct yet tactful manner. There have been times when people within a chamber music group may not get along with each other, or a conflict arises between people in a group. Tara is able to intervene and solve most interpersonal problems.

Having enough time to coach everyone is Tara's weakness. She will often spend a lot of time coaching a group where the players are at a more beginning level, or she will allot her time to those groups needing the most help with playing together. As I have been in her class before, I can say that she has definitely improved in this aspect this semester. I have received the most coaching time from her this semester than in any other semester.

This was my first semester with Tara. I learned a great deal from her. She can be a hard task master and I did feel singled out at times because I was not practicing as much as other students. Overall though I got a lot out of the class. Tara is passionate about music and that comes through.

I felt there was a nice balance of lecturing and playing. Tara is highly knowledgable about music. If you are willing to work hard you can become an accomplished musician working with Tara.

Kathy Cortez

Tara is an outstanding musician, with impressive theory knowledge. However, she displays very little patience or respect for her students when they do not get something. Some students in the class have stopped seeing her for help, instead asking their peers to explain things. There have been days that I've wanted to get up and leave because of the tension in the classroom.

Also, she gave her Ear Training class (MUS 221) a very extensive project a month before the end of the semester. (Fall 2002) She meant to give it to us the first month of the semester. She said that she "was sorry that she flaked on it." This was not only discouraging, knowing that the instructor was disorganized, but also very annoying, having to do a large amount of work in 1/3 the original timeframe because the instructor "flaked."

*UPDATE*

Tara has been far better with the workload and advance warning this semester in her MUS 221/222 class this semester. (Spring 2003)

In short, if you can handle these problems, you have a lot to gain from being in her classes.

Tara Flandreau has been teaching music at College of Marin for over twenty years. An employee of the college who started out as a music librarian/technician, Tara has moved up to teach a wide variety of music course, including:

- Community Symphony Orchestra - Beginning Strings - Intermediate Strings - Chamber Orchestra - Chamber Music Ensemble - Music Theory III and IV - Ear Training II, III, and IV - Music Fundamentals

As a music major whose first course with Flandreau was Music Fundamentals, I learned how closed my door of knowledge to the world of music. This instructor pushed me, challenged me, cared about me, and taught me things I never knew about music, both in theoretical and performance studies--all with great patience.

Currently, Flandreau is enrolled in a doctoral program in Music Education at Teachers College at Columbia University. She currently plans to work on completing her degree within three to four years while continuing to teach at College of Marin.

In the second-year music theory classes which I took with this instructor, Flandreau starts the academic year off with a thorough review of material learned in the first-year theory course (known, aka, as diatonic harmony). As the fall semester progresses, she piled on a lot of graded homework assignments, based on the lectures she would give on how to resolve dominant-seventh chords, how to understand secondary dominants, and finally, how to modulate from one key change to another, leading into chromaticism. The semester would culminate with two final composition projects: first, a written piano composition typically incorporating chromatic harmonies, and second, a written composition for a string quartet. Flandreau usually has all compositions performed by students in her other, performance-based class.

This instructor's lectures are always usually put together well. However, sometimes she has a tendency to present lecture material in a rush so that students not grasping the material she presents immediately, may fall behind. On the other hand, Flandreau is always extremely patient when contacted for assistance with the class during her office hours. Office hours for this instructor may not always be consistent with the available office hours that are posted on her office door, as Flandreau runs the hub of the music department as chair, so she is always grossly involved in projects for other classes.

The required textbook Flandreau uses, "Tonal Harmony with an Introduction to Twentieth-Century Music," presents a wealth of valuable material and includes a vast array of exercises in each chapter. While never assigned, it is always advised that you do SOME of the exercises in the textbook for additional practice/enrichment. Yet, be aware that when Flandreau gives quizzes and homework assignments prior to the two-semester-end composition projects, grades will be based primarily on her lectures.

To be all honest, if you can approach Flandreau for help, she is tremendously supportive of students who are struggling, yet serious and determined to succeed in the study of music. Great Instructor!!