In the previous post we discussed the advantages of private lessons on a student’s development as well as the contributing factors to the development of the self-motivated student. Self motivated students , as I will discuss will begin to have a profound effect on the players around them. This influence will be the factor which will advance his/her fellow students in their improvement in addition to their private instructor’s help. The question will be this- will this influence have more affect on the other students than the one on one influence the private teach has on the same students?
Pier pressure has a very powerful affect on all students as we all know. How we dress, what we purchase, what we eat are all illustrations of this influence. The younger the individual, the more this is evident. Pier pressure even at the college age is evident and when it affects your musical ability, it is even stronger because most musicians take pride in their ability as a performer. Throughout their musical development, people have been telling them how wonderful they perform and how musical they are gifted. When reaching the college age and performing in this arena of musical performance, we all know what pressure is exerted on us in order to perform at an acceptable level. In my own case, I remember distinctly the feeling I had when I entered the old music building at North Texas State and was humbled by the large number of trumpet players practicing and realizing that I was NOT the best trumpet player in the world. I remember this situation as if it were yesterday. Till that moment, I thought I was a hot shot on trumpet. That’s when I learned the affect your environment can have on your motivation as a player. This sudden exposure to what trumpet playing was going to be like at NTS had more impact on me than all of my private lessons combined. I quickly learned the meaning of practice and advancement. Just as a sinking person suddenly learns to swim, I had to reset my goals as a trumpet player.
How does your environment affect your musical advancement?
When comparing a student’s contact with their private teacher and the his/her contact with a fellow trumpet player competing for a chair in an ensemble, it is similar to swimming in a public swimming pool and swimming in an ocean full of hungry sharks! Preparing your weekly lesson in order to please your instructor and preparing your audition material in order to secure the lead chair in you favorite jazz ensemble is as different as night and day. Your audition for the lead chair will command your full attention and your weekly lesson preparation will have to wait. This is the environmental pressure which will push students to higher levels of preparation than for their weekly lessons.
Reflecting back to the years when our college was “wall to wall” filled with gifted trumpet students, I have no doubt that the real reason for this wonderful time in our history was not because of the gifted teachers in the studios as much as it was the fact that we had an over- abundance of self-motivated students. I also remember the years where the number and ability of trumpet students was below average we were working with fewer self motivated students. What does this tell us about our effectiveness as teachers?
Lest our readers concur that environmental influence is a better motivator than private teachers, let me remind you that without private teachers, there would be no students taking lessons. The point I have been making is that the teachers have a positive responsibility in the development of musicians and coupled with their student’s environmental pressures, great things can be accomplished. If, on the other hand, you think you are the only reason your students succeed, you would fit better in a field such as politics.
I agree completely. I believe environment is the most important thing for developing trumpeters but I also believe that we have the ability to change our own environment. Wynton Marsalis used to tell stories about driving through his neighborhood with classical and jazz recordings cranked at full volume in his car. He made a choice to effect his environment to listen to great music instead of whatever was popular at the time. This is something we can all do.
Anyway, thanks for the inspiration.