First of all, she began to teach him in the way he will get critiqued if he becomes concert pianist.
(...) merely to thicken their skin against criticism (...)
I think that duck is pointing out an important attitude that develops amongst not just teachers, but amongst people in general. The truth of the matter is, we can't just deal with this topic as though it's isolated to piano and art, it is really about human nature and what we have to learn to cope with here on earth in order to live a rich life. An artist must be an artist in many, many ways ! One of the most important skills in life is that of being able to
adapt to what one is being faced with in each moment. Is a "thick skin" important ? Well, I guess it depends really.
I recently watched a nature program which gave the program viewers a glimpse into the lives and ecosystems of different plants from around the world. What I found to be most fascinating were the various environmental conditions in which different species were able to not just survive, but actually
thrive in. What stood out most to me along these lines is that various species are actually designed for certain regions of the world. For example, cactus do not just survive in the desert, they *thrive* there ! If a cactus were taken out of the desert and placed in a rain forest, somewhere completely foreign to their makeup and design, they would either have to adapt and actually change the way they are structured and the way they function, or they will die. Whereas another species of plant, like a fern for example, may thrive in the rain forest and die in the desert. Notice, these particular conditions are not necessarily better or worse in general, it just depends on the species trying to live in those conditions.
There is an art to truly adapting to one's circumstances. One must be capable of utilizing what resources are available in such a way that the individual's entire makeup becomes recalibrated to actually thrive under the circumstances they are faced with. I think that as artists, if we are not thriving, we are essentially dead. An artist must take on many personas and not just be capable of acting them out but must instead be capable of
being them in structure and design. Adaption is the art of a thriving state of existence, and developing the skill to thrive is essential to
artistic survival. If we relate an individual to a species of plant, you could say that a person cannot just be a fern who learns how to survive in the terrain of a cactus ... that is simply not going to work unless the structure that makes a fern a fern actually learns to mimic the structure that makes a cactus a cactus ! Essentially, an artist must be both.
So, yes, there are strong points in having a thick skin but developing this to match the demand for it is an art in and of itself. Also, one simply cannot stop developing once they believe they have accomplished a "thick skin" (as though this is the quintessential element to survival), and I think the concept of "thick skin" is anyway *very* mistreated by most people !
Relating back to plantlife, what I find very interesting is that although various species will thrive in various conditions, the actual survival elements for all of plant life is essentially the same. A cactus still needs water even though it lives in a desert. What makes a cactus a cactus is the fact that it is designed to gather, store and utilize nutrients like water in a very specific way. A fern is designed to gather, store and utilize water differently. A similar example is found in something like sea life. A fish actually still needs oxygen in order to survive, the trick is that a fish gathers, stores and utilizes oxygen in a way that makes it a fish ! A fish has gills instead of lungs.
Okay, so to the point. As a teacher myself, I feel I would be doing my young artist students a disservice to try to make them adapt to only one particular form of circumstance. I don't want to train them to be only a fern and I don't want to train them to be only a cactus. Perhaps many teachers share a similar view to what I just said, and perhaps even some of the types of teachers brought up in this thread have some kind of connection with what I just said. Maybe they believe they are even motivated by the same desires for their students (though I am a bit suspicious about that). In the example I posted about up above, perhaps that is even the basic idea there. You help a person learn how to adapt by putting them in various circumstances, giving them the opportunity to restructure and survive. Okay, there is something to that but one must be very, very careful in walking that particular line. First of all, my standard as a teacher is not just to have my artists survive in various circumstances, but to have them actually thrive since I believe that thriving is essential to
artistic survival.
I could decide to take my little potted cactus, sitting in my window sill, and "teach" it to adapt to rain forest conditions by driving to the rain forest and dropping the cactus off by the side of the road and then quickly driving away in my car without looking back. Or I could "teach" my little goldfish to adapt to living outside of water by netting him and placing him in the grass in the backyard. I could fool myself by saying that if they really want to and if they are strong enough, they will survive and they will adapt and I could pat myself on the back for doing such a favor for these little guys. But, I think we all know what the likely fate is of these creatures; they will not survive on their own. Okay, let's say they
did survive. Have
I actually
taught them anything ? Well, most likely they are indeed learning *something* but it's probably not at all what I had in mind for them to be learning and I certainly have not crafted a learning environment to ensure their success (nor have I actually passed on any particular knowledge or skill).
I think that what I described above is similar to how people think of lessons in art and in life, and individuals claim to be teaching somebody something just because the individual survived and learned something in the process. If this is how a student learned the "art" of being a musician, they may wear their rough experiences as some kind of merit badge and may even develop some attitude that there is a secret code of honor in having been "raised" in these kinds of circumstances. If you ask these people what they learned they will answer "I learned how to survive, man" and they may even describe their experiences to you in order to really show you that they have accomplished something of great value (and perhaps they have). These people will teach in the same way because that is how they learned.
In the case of fishies and plants, the chances of them actually surviving in this way is actually pretty slim. If a fish or plant dies, well, it's no big deal (to most people). However, when it comes to teacher and student, we are talking about people and it matters very much whether these individuals are successful or not ! Even though some people do indeed survive this kind of treatment, many do not.
I think, in fact, that is one of the main points to some teachers and to some people in the field of music who believe that art is about survival of the fittest and that being an artist is about mere survival in a cold world. But, I have to ask, what kind of music do we really expect to get out of these people who have merely survived ? What kind of inspiration ? What kind of quality is coming out of this form of "schooling" ? It's just not good enough to me. For the most part, I am just not touched and in many, many cases, I am not even curious because most of what these people "talk" about is how tough their skin is and life is much, much richer than just that ! If I am going to take my time and listen to your story, it better be about more than how much you have suffered because I have suffered, too, and I would like to use it differently than just a means of telling a tale to a listening ear !
The point, though, is that to be an artist, we must do more than just survive and the ability to adapt to our circumstances does not mean we are capable of existing without the proper nutrients, it just means that we have to learn how to recognize them in varying environments and then how to gather, store and utilize them differently. Now, if a teacher ventures into
that realm, then I would say that they are actually teaching somebody something of life value. In reality, what matters more than a "tough skin" is a resillient, flexible character. A character that knows how to survive hardships and still accept the most tender, intimate, loving aspects of life with a truly trusting, honest, pure and open heart. In my opinion, a person is basically dead if their "tough skin" has simply become a defense against everything and all. And if nothing else, I would certainly rather listen to "joe nobody" who is capable of communicating the full spectrum of life to me through the music of the piano, than "joe cool" who has only one main story to tell (and doesn't even understand the meaning) and expects me to listen just because his name is "joe cool" !
Okay. Where are we now ? The reality of being a human being and of being an artist is that we will be subjected to many different circumstances throughout life, and some will be harder than others. On top of that, we will get critiqued by other people and ourselves while learning to navigate our way through. At this point, I feel it's essential to recognize that not all critiques are created equal. And, learning to discover the difference between those critiques which we should listen to and those critiques which we shouldn't is essential to developing the difference between a flexible character who recognizes how to find resources and thrive in varying circumstances, vs. a character who has developed merely a "tough skin" and uses this like a weapon even when the actual circumstances do not demand for the use of this one, tiny little tool and even when it may be better to be tender instead of tough. The problem is that many people take a concept like "tough skin" and exploit until it starts to seem like something that it is not, and treat is as though it's the only way to survive in the world. Well, that is similar to saying that the only way to survive as a plant is by becoming a cactus.
With that, I think I will go for now. Trying to write out this post blew my mind and opened up WAY more in me than I was expecting at the time ... LOL !
Topic: My teacher is devastating me !!