What Makes A Great Musician?
What makes a good musician? Can they be taught or do they need to be born with the talent?
These are cliche questions no doubt, and have been asked by many, many people, but they lead onto my belief about how we should approach teaching the pupils - I just don't care either way! Let me explain...
I hate it when I meet people who obviously have a gift for a subject (not just music), but then show no inclination to use that talent, whether through peer pressure or a general lack of interest.
I love it when I meet people who are the opposite - they may not be as naturally gifted, but they graft, resulting in practitioners who get a genuine enjoyment out of what they are doing; this is half the reason that I still write music, even though I realised many moons ago that I would never make any money from it - I just enjoy it and the process of developing an idea.
Music education has a tricky task in trying to encourage those with talent to take this further while also giving those who require more support and direction a chance to develop their skills. It therefore pains me when people just see music as a non-subject, something to enjoy in your spare time, but not a real academic course in it's own right.
Another problem is that, due to this attitude and also a lack of financial support within the school system, many students do not have the opportunity to experience good quality music teaching until they reach secondary school. This is way too late for many - the more music tuition they can get before the age of 10-11, the more chance they have of developing their own musical skills and a love of the subject before the terrible teens, and of keeping some interest in the subject going throughout their lives.
I hope that in my classroom and extra-curricular activities all students have an opportunity to approach the subject in their own way and to get a genuine thrill in performing and composing. It is still hard balancing practical tasks with theoretical work, and I sometimes despair at the only instruments a lot of kids (and their parents!) are interested in are guitar and drums, but I believe I get there in the end.
These are cliche questions no doubt, and have been asked by many, many people, but they lead onto my belief about how we should approach teaching the pupils - I just don't care either way! Let me explain...
I hate it when I meet people who obviously have a gift for a subject (not just music), but then show no inclination to use that talent, whether through peer pressure or a general lack of interest.
I love it when I meet people who are the opposite - they may not be as naturally gifted, but they graft, resulting in practitioners who get a genuine enjoyment out of what they are doing; this is half the reason that I still write music, even though I realised many moons ago that I would never make any money from it - I just enjoy it and the process of developing an idea.
Music education has a tricky task in trying to encourage those with talent to take this further while also giving those who require more support and direction a chance to develop their skills. It therefore pains me when people just see music as a non-subject, something to enjoy in your spare time, but not a real academic course in it's own right.
Another problem is that, due to this attitude and also a lack of financial support within the school system, many students do not have the opportunity to experience good quality music teaching until they reach secondary school. This is way too late for many - the more music tuition they can get before the age of 10-11, the more chance they have of developing their own musical skills and a love of the subject before the terrible teens, and of keeping some interest in the subject going throughout their lives.
I hope that in my classroom and extra-curricular activities all students have an opportunity to approach the subject in their own way and to get a genuine thrill in performing and composing. It is still hard balancing practical tasks with theoretical work, and I sometimes despair at the only instruments a lot of kids (and their parents!) are interested in are guitar and drums, but I believe I get there in the end.