The Ability to Progress

Columbus Symphony Principal Clarinet David Thomas has a number of great one-liners in an interesting recent post, Tweets Dec 16-21, 2009. Of the group, the first in his list hits at several important points. The quote is:

If you think you are a great musician, or think you suck, both ways mess up your ability to progress.

He describes in this quote two ends of a spectrum. Among horn players I have taught many more are over toward the think they stink end of the scale than are over on the side of think they are great.

An individual’s personal background and the teachers they have had are a part of the picture. Some teachers certainly push people over toward an edge, with some teachers (typically those who work with younger students especially) pushing them toward think they are great by being overly supportive, and yet other teachers pride themselves by how tough they are which can badly wear down a weak self esteem.

I have also noted over the years that there are some students that are actually looking for a teacher that will, as one potential student actually told me directly, “tell them they suck.” That particular student opted to study elsewhere and this to my mind is a really bad thing to look for, ultimately a recipe for ending up in another career. You have to be real but laying down lots of negative feedback is not the best teaching method. I sometimes wonder how those teachers can get up in the morning day to day and keep on teaching, it can’t be fun for them either.

Getting back to the quote, these things all as Thomas noted “mess up your ability to progress.” Especially if you are looking at schools for study, mentoring people who are looking at schools, or teaching students try to keep your/their head(s) straight so that they can progress.