We had an amazing series of Christmas recitals for Grays Harbor Piano last month. There’s nothing quite like watching our students overcome nerves, fears, and difficult passages of music to walk up in front of over a hundred people and perform their songs.
I was also particularly gratified this year at how many of our adult students participated. Way to go, grownups!
The motivation for this article is an alarming conversation I had with one of our students in preparation for our Christmas recitals this year, which has really stuck with me and caused me to pause and reflect.
Weeks before, we were talking as a group about recital protocols and procedures (i.e. here’s how the program works, here’s when you go up to play, make sure to bow to the audience afterward, etc.), and one student raised his hand and timidly asked me, “but teacher Bill, who will I be going against at the recital?”
“Who will I be going against?”
The question didn’t process for me at first. “Who will you be going against? It’s a Christmas recital. You’re eight years old. It’s not Chopin. You guys are playing Jingle Bells, Up on the Housetop, and Frosty for goodness’ sake”. But then I realized that this young student, for whatever reason, truly had in his head that the recital was some sort of competition. That he was going to be judged. That there was going to be a score. That he was up there to be compared to the next person.
And that thought clearly terrified him.
Now I’ll interject here: that sort of thing does exist. I’ve even played that game before myself. Formal recitals. Adjudication. Scores, rankings, awards. But in my (admittedly limited) opinion, all that doesn’t contribute to students loving music. It’s like a price you pay, a tax if you will, on getting to take music lessons.
And maybe it has a place in the development of a small percentage of music students, who want to be performance majors in college and go on to conservatory like at Juilliard or Berklee or something. But for 99% of music students? Again, who am I to say so… but… I’m afraid that competition-culture can actually be counter-productive to producing musicians. Much less helping students to, God forbid, enjoy music.
When I started GH Piano, I knew I wanted my primary driving value to be helping students to love music. I truly believe that if a student really enjoys the music, then they’ll put the necessary work in to improve and get good at music. But too often I’ve seen these values flipped on their heads - and we (mistakenly in my opinion) believe that if we can just force a kid to get good at music, lay the pressure to excel heavily enough on their heads, then maybe one day they’ll actually enjoy it.
I don't believe that works.
Now don't get me wrong. I believe in hard work. I'm not against competition when appropriate. I am however, alarmed at the trajectory of our culture, which essentially tells kids that a hobby, sport, or activity is only worth pursuing if they're going to make varsity, win state, get offered a full-ride scholarship to college, and ultimately go pro.
Or at least get one or two million followers on tik-tok through the process.
Our kids are constantly being evaluated. And I’m here to tell you: They feel it. They're relentlessly being compared to everyone else in their classes. Compared to everyone else on their standardized tests (and you better perform by the way, or it will be your fault the school doesn't get funding!). Compared to everyone else on their teams, or in their leagues. Compared to everyone else online through the toxic social media culture.
Music is meant to be a means of self expression. Expression of one's joys. Expression of one's frustrations. Expressions of one's longings. Even expression of one's worship. Yes, music can be a beautiful gift to be shared with others. But we can only share what truly comes out of us.
Legendary jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis was once asked, "Is music for the listeners, or for the player?" His answer was perfect; "Music is always for the listeners. But remember, the first listener is always the player."
Students of GH Piano will be taught that you're never playing "against" anyone. Even if in the future we offer some (completely elective) more intense preparations for music festivals, formal recitals, or even college preparation, I'm adamant that all those things will come through the filter of, and be subservient to the ultimate goal of enjoying and loving the music.
Happy 2024!
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