NO greater gift
NO GREATER GIFT
It's getting to be that time of year when we all start thinking about PREZZIES!!!
However, I want to talk about GIFTS. I am both a student and a teacher and frankly, I don't know which is better. It’s often hard to tell who is learning more anyway. I love my students like I love my kids. I am their fiercest advocate and their biggest fan. And I adore my mentors beyond anything words can describe. I have such intense admiration for them, their skills and accomplishments, and the spirit that drives their creativity.
It is a tremendous source of satisfaction for me to watch my students grow and develop, both as musicians and as human beings. Music increases our intelligence, it enhances our social skills, it enables us to love more deeply and it connects us with our spirituality. Who ever thought that this kind of magic could happen simply by saying put this finger here and put that finger there?
My current teacher, Scott Tennant, is one of the world’s top players. Every now and then I marvel and wonder, “Why me?” There must be over a million guitarists who would die to be studying with him. It’s not like I am a better player than they all are… I wish... My first lesson, or the audition, began with me playing something for him. Miraculously I played it the best I have ever played it. Then panic set in and I could not play anything else. Maybe he saw potential on the one hand and lots to work towards, on the other. Myself, I had some burning questions, in case I was not accepted as his private student: If you are at the top of the top, how did you do it? Were you born being able to do it? When you play at Carnegie Hall, do you get nervous, just like I do when I play for you? Do you need to work really hard like I do, or can you just do it?
His answers were very honest and I learned that he is pretty much like the rest of us. He spoke about his challenges and about how he learns. He gets nervous just like me, so he always starts concerts with pieces he can play with shaky hands. Talking about practise habits, I could see he has incredible focus. (“Heather, basically I practise slow enough that it’s impossible for me to make a mistake, then I repeat it as often as necessary, for me to be able to do it every time”). It was inspiring . . . He is so uncompromising both about sheer mechanics and about his artistry. It was what I needed to know, and I needed to hear it from someone at his level. It seemed to give me permission to jump off the mountain-top and to free fall into my dreams, hopes and aspirations.
Over and over, with every student, and with myself too, I have witnessed how becoming a better musician makes us better people. I also think that serious students should teach as well. Teaching helps us hone our knowledge and challenges us to remain flexible with our ideas. It is a tremendous source of satisfaction to share our wisdom and knowledge about the things that we care about so deeply. Really, the give and take in teaching and learning is one of the greatest gifts life has to offer.
Dec 2011
It's getting to be that time of year when we all start thinking about PREZZIES!!!
However, I want to talk about GIFTS. I am both a student and a teacher and frankly, I don't know which is better. It’s often hard to tell who is learning more anyway. I love my students like I love my kids. I am their fiercest advocate and their biggest fan. And I adore my mentors beyond anything words can describe. I have such intense admiration for them, their skills and accomplishments, and the spirit that drives their creativity.
It is a tremendous source of satisfaction for me to watch my students grow and develop, both as musicians and as human beings. Music increases our intelligence, it enhances our social skills, it enables us to love more deeply and it connects us with our spirituality. Who ever thought that this kind of magic could happen simply by saying put this finger here and put that finger there?
My current teacher, Scott Tennant, is one of the world’s top players. Every now and then I marvel and wonder, “Why me?” There must be over a million guitarists who would die to be studying with him. It’s not like I am a better player than they all are… I wish... My first lesson, or the audition, began with me playing something for him. Miraculously I played it the best I have ever played it. Then panic set in and I could not play anything else. Maybe he saw potential on the one hand and lots to work towards, on the other. Myself, I had some burning questions, in case I was not accepted as his private student: If you are at the top of the top, how did you do it? Were you born being able to do it? When you play at Carnegie Hall, do you get nervous, just like I do when I play for you? Do you need to work really hard like I do, or can you just do it?
His answers were very honest and I learned that he is pretty much like the rest of us. He spoke about his challenges and about how he learns. He gets nervous just like me, so he always starts concerts with pieces he can play with shaky hands. Talking about practise habits, I could see he has incredible focus. (“Heather, basically I practise slow enough that it’s impossible for me to make a mistake, then I repeat it as often as necessary, for me to be able to do it every time”). It was inspiring . . . He is so uncompromising both about sheer mechanics and about his artistry. It was what I needed to know, and I needed to hear it from someone at his level. It seemed to give me permission to jump off the mountain-top and to free fall into my dreams, hopes and aspirations.
Over and over, with every student, and with myself too, I have witnessed how becoming a better musician makes us better people. I also think that serious students should teach as well. Teaching helps us hone our knowledge and challenges us to remain flexible with our ideas. It is a tremendous source of satisfaction to share our wisdom and knowledge about the things that we care about so deeply. Really, the give and take in teaching and learning is one of the greatest gifts life has to offer.
Dec 2011
