Yes, You Can Get Better!

I’ve been busy leading workshops this summer, which is always rewarding. Workshop students are unfailingly motivated and curious, and I love getting to foster a positive climate that facilitates both group and individual learning.

Another plus is the ability to meet and mingle with colleagues. Music teaching can be a lonely profession –you are typically the only teacher in the room– and it’s nice to be able to have conversations with people who share experiences similar to yours.

At one workshop this summer, another teacher told me a story I am gong to retell now, changing some names and details. This particular colleague taught at a long running workshop that featured, among other things, placement auditions. One summer, a participant arrived to play. This particular participant had been attending for decades, and was at this point in her nineties. At the end of the audition, one colleague turned to another and said, I think she’s better this year year!

I love this story because I firmly believe that, with intelligent work over time, we can all improve. Even if we are ninety-two; even if we picked up music in general or a specific instrument late; even if we believe we lack “talent” or “an ear” or whatever else it is that we think we need to have in order to get better.

I guess you’re off the hook if you’re comatose. And I grudgingly admit that if you have a progressive disease, your playing will decline. But the rest of us can absolutely expect to get better at what we choose, provided we invest our work intelligently and consistently over time.

Now, the pace and size of your improvement may not be to your liking. You may wish you were improving faster, or become frustrating that your playing is yet what you would like it to be. And I very often encounter a mismatch between a student’s expectations for themselves and the energy (time, resources, etc.) they are able and/or willing to apply. But improvement, itself, is within your reach!

I find that incredibly empowering.

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