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Topic: Encouragement  (Read 2229 times)

Offline greyrune

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Encouragement
on: March 25, 2004, 12:23:29 AM
hi, i'm not a teacher, sorry if i'm not allowed to post here, but well, i just did.  Anyway i was just wondering how much you guys encourage your students.  For instance my teacher is not encouraging at all really, i think i'm doing quite well but i can't tell and this is a problem.  It has, i admit, pushed me to work harder in order to get something out of him, lol, but i'm not sure if this would work with other students.  On the other hand i had a guitar teacher for a period who gushed with encouragement.  This, though nice for a while, was equally, if not more, annoying than the other option.  Do you guys find that happy medium or what, i've been wondering this for a while.  Thanks
I'll be Bach

Offline bernhard

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Re: Encouragement
Reply #1 on: March 25, 2004, 01:18:30 AM
Ok. This is the situation.

No matter what goal you set for yourself you are never going to achieve it. Depressing is it not?

So you must set for yourself the highest goal possible (nothing short of perfection). This way even though you will never achieve it, you will reach some pretty high standards trying to achieve it.

On the other hand, adopt the philosophy of mediocrity that seems to pervade so much of the educational system today (“I don’t want to be a concert pianist, all I want is to be able to play happy birthday to you”) and again you will not reach your goal, but what you will achieve will be far less than the guy who set his goals at impossible heights.

A teacher that never praises and only criticises has possibly set perfection as a goal for his students (s/he may also just be a bad teacher – what is the difference? If the criticism becomes personal rather than of your playing, beware!). If so, this maybe a very good teacher indeed since s/he will push you to limits you never thought possible (if you can withstand it is another matter. As they say, pain is the best teacher, but no one wants to go to his classes).

Teaching by criticism is far more common these days in the East then in the West. There, if the teacher stops criticising you and starts ignoring you, it is a bad sign: The teacher has decided you are not worth his time, so he is not going to spend any energy on you. If s/he starting praising you, then things are really bad. Students over there exult when the teacher criticises them: It means they are worth the teacher’s attention after all.

There is a famous story about Slydini, a superb magician (now dead, I believe) who would in his later years give master classes to other magicians conditioned to an interview. At this stage in his life a researcher was accompanying him in order to write a book about him. So he was present on one occasion when two candidates were interviewed. In this interview Slydini would ask the magician to do a few tricks and routines. The first one did some nice tricks and at the end Slydini complimented on his flawless technique and clever sleight of hand assuring him he would contact him later. The candidate left the room elated and confident on his abilities. The second one started his routine and was immediately (and according to the shocked researcher quite rudely) interrupted by Slydini who started criticising all of his moves, and proceeded to demonstrate how he could have improved on it. This went on for almost one hour with Slydini finding fault in everything the poor guy did. At the end of the interview the magician was about to leave crestfallen when Slydini asked “So, when can we start the lessons?”.

The interviewer asked Slydini about this, since he was sure the first magician would be the successful candidate. Slydini laughed: “I could not do anything for the first magician. But to say that to him would destroy him, so I praised him. He did not get the lessons he came from, but he left with his self-confidence intact. Now the second one has a lot of promise and talent, but he also has much work to do. My criticism meant not only that he was worth of my time, but also, if he cannot cope with my private criticism, how is he going to survive the public?”

My suggestion to you is: If your teacher criticises you, use his criticism. Ask him how to use his criticism. Do not assume you know what he is talking about. If he complains about your technique ask him how to improve it. If you are not improving ask his opinion on why this might be, and what his suggestions would be to make it better. He is your teacher, he is there for that, and he will be glad to do it. Then act on his suggestions. Did it work? If not why not? Was it because you misunderstood his instructions? Or was it because the instructions were not appropriate (always assume the earlier)?

Best wishes,
Bernhard.
The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side. (Hunter Thompson)

Offline glamfolk

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Re: Encouragement
Reply #2 on: March 25, 2004, 09:46:38 PM
Each person learns differently, but the best students (and the best musisians, really) are the ones that know how to listen.  Students should be able to take criticism, and use it as a tool for improvement and motivation.  Sometimes the criticism has to be personal, if that's where the problem lies.  What i mean by that is that students with horrible know-it-all attitudes who will not listen need to be told that their attitude is standing in the way of their improvement.  I have a student who counters each suggestion with "that's not necessarily true", or "you're wrong about that, you know,"  and will never do anything the way that I tell her.  If I instruct her to repeat a section that we're working on, she just pouts,  slams her hands on the keyboard, and says "I just did it! why should I repeat it?"  It's not that she lacks ability, it's that she's never been given any criticism by her doting, perfect parents.   Her attitude sucks, and she needs to learn how to listen.  That's her problem.

Luckily, it's a rare problem.   The problem most of my students face is that of focus and time management.   The teacher exists largely to work on these things.  The hard work is really up to the student.

That being said, it never hurts to give encouragement and praise when it's warranted.  If I'm moved by something a student plays, they'll get applause, then they'll play it again.  Something played well bears repeating, just as something that needs work.  

To cover the listening as well as the goals, my students listen to a lot of Rubenstein, Arrau, and Moravec (my favorite for the Chopin Preludes).  Shoot for the stars, and you might reach the moon.
 

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