A Man's Reach Must Exceed His Grasp

If I had to put this Shakespearean reference in terms of my business, I would say that my grasp is my local area, my current and former students, and those people with whom I interact on a regular basis. Imagine my surprise when, one Friday a few weeks ago, my telephone rang, and the person on the other end was calling from another country thousands of miles away. It turned out that he had posted a question online about taking up piano as an adult some while back, and I answered in a way that he found encouraging. I found it immensely gratifying (and astonishing) that he took the trouble to track me down and thank me, as I almost never receive feedback.

The Dangers of Denial

As I have reported before, Repetitive Stress Injury (of which Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is a part) is one of the two occupational hazards musicians face regularly. Every singer and instrumentalist needs to be aware of the dangers of repetitive stress injury. The onset can be very rapid, and our tendency is to shrug off a sore throat or aching wrists, arms or fingers. However, those aches and pains are warning signs that something is very, very wrong. Denying their importance is career suicide.

Zombie Musicians

I went to a great concert a few weeks ago, and as the conductor was taking his final bow, by a trick of the lighting, he suddenly had the appearance of a zombie. You know, dark eye sockets, greyed-out face . . . and my friend and I laughed it off. But whether it was because Hallowe'en was coming up, or some other reason, the notion of a zombie conductor stayed on my mind. And that led me to thinking about zombie musicians.

It's the Economy, Stupid

With all the unemployment and economic issues in the USA today, I thought I'd chime in with my own two cents' worth of ideas. Not that I don't want to get back to reading research, but the economy has been very much on everyone's mind lately. And one of the biggest economic drivers is, as unlikely as it might seem, the arts. Indeed the arts is what is called an "economic multiplier," that is, for each dollar invested in the arts, you get a multiple of dollars in return. In some cases, the multiplier can be as high as 15% or higher (that is, for every dollar invested, you get fifteen dollars in return).

My Way or the Highway

It is a simple, established law of nature: you can't fight physics and win. Yet almost without exception, each student who comes in to my studio wants everything to work within their preconceived notions of how playing or singing should work, rather than how it does work. I fight battle after battle with my students, patiently explaining to them why their technical approach does not work to get what they want, and what technical approach will get what they want. In a nutshell, such battles are exhausting!

I often explain my job in many different ways, and compare what I do to various occupations: batting coach, auto mechanic, etc. But most often I think of myself as a cult deprogrammer. Modern society is so full of unconscious biases about art, artists, music, musicians, teachers and students that most of the students who begin lessons have much more to unlearn than they have to actually learn. And these unconscious biases and assumptions are so strong that students would rather fail at music than violate those assumptions and biases. I begin to wonder if, subconsciously, they are throwing up obstacles for themselves just so they will not succeed.