If you're like me, you get tired of following the rules. Especially if there doesn't seem to be a point to them. Who made these rules anyway? Play without pressure, center the mouthpiece, don't purse your lips, practice till the cows come home, every day. When my job was mainly to follow the rules, and not to make them, I got really tired of it. I wanted to rewrite all these do's and don'ts just to feel free again. After years of stubborn resistance and landing in ditches, I finally came round to an appreciation of THE RULES. I was going to say a whole new perspective, but then realized that was stretching the truth. In fact, even though I now teach many of the same rules I chafed against the most, I still struggle with the decision to start a new day of reminding my body how it plays the trumpet. How does it happen that a rule breaker becomes a rule "enforcer"? And, more importantly, how can I help someone else follow these rules without feeling similarly abused in the process? Coaching and learning are hard work for both coach and learner. Trying to figure out which is more demanding is like trying to measure the distance between two stars in the night sky. Only one thing is certain, and that is that it takes two working together for learning to occur. Like my Mom always told me when I was trying to win her to my side of a heated argument with another person, "It takes two to tango, dear." (Which infuriated me, btw, since I didn't know what the blazes she meant until many years later.) The process of learning and teaching harmonizes best when two people work together toward a common goal. There are at least two conditions that need to exist in order for that work to be productive. 1. Trust and Respect. Not just of learner for coach, the assumption we all make, but also of coach for learner. Any good teacher knows that as much as these qualities are necessary from the learner, the coach/teacher stands to learn as much from the student/learner as vice versa. Different things are learned by each, but it's a symbiotic relationship that flourishes when truth and respect flow both ways. The learner gains technical prowess along with musical insight. Perhaps s/he also learns to make better musical judgments as well, and realizes valuable insights into their own thinking leading to enhanced performance capabilities. The teacher learns how to set priorities and make them clear for each individual learner. And beyond that, the teacher's soul is fed by participating in the birth of another musician into the world. 2. Solid Decision Making. Again, not just on the part of one or the other, but on the part of both. Here the obvious assumption is that the coach makes decisions or lays out the rules, and the learner obligingly follows to their great advantage. However, decision-making promises a subtle yet powerful tool for the learner as well.
You'll find that plans will present themselves, too. Sometimes in such abundance that the decision of where to start seems impossible to make. Thankfully, your coach and guide can take the angst out of that decision. S/he probably provides some sort of blueprint for practice. In my case, a list for daily practice that covers all the basics is given each lesson. The learner need only make the decision to practice (according to the outline) while remembering what issues surfaced during lessons.
No amount of coaxing (threatening, pleading, haranguing) from the guide can succeed in producing actual work if the learner's own willpower is absent. Hence the adage, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." The horse works with his trainer to drink up, and both horse and trainer benefit from their respective choices. So go ahead, make that decision. See if it doesn't provide something essential to your life. Even something as essential as water. I predict that not only will your life be enriched, but so also the lives of those seeking your advancement and wellbeing . Comments are closed.
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GlendaI'm a trumpet player and music teacher aiming in this blog to help other Trumpeters, Music Enthusiasts, Music Educators, and aspiring professionals reach their highest potential in life through the study and cultivation of musical skills. Music Education
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