You have to have a spark
You have to have a spark
There’s an X factor for becoming a musician, but it’s not natural intuitive ability, talent, or even discipline - it’s curiosity.
Music teachers, when they vent to each other, are prone to lots of hand-wringing about how to motivate their students. We discuss the merits and pitfalls of various repertoire, rules, and approaches. We want to do everything we can to help our students learn and develop as musicians.
There’s a toxic undercurrent to this topic that I can’t help noticing every time I see it come up. Yes, we teachers do everything in our power to teach well, to connect with our students and give them what they need to flourish. But we can’t take on ourselves the full responsibility for how well our students learn, because learning only happens when the student engages with what we’re offering them, and that’s something only the student can do. They have to be picking up what we’re throwing down. We can’t make them do it. It’s really up to them.
A student isn’t just an empty vessel waiting to be filled with knowledge. That attitude toward education, on the part of either the teacher or the student, sabotages true learning. The student has to be the catalyst that turns information into understanding. Learning music, in particular, requires students to grasp systematic concepts and develop complex and individualized skill sets; it isn’t just a bunch of facts to be memorized.
In order to achieve that alchemy of comprehension, a student has to have their own internal motivation to draw on. Teachers and parents can work our best strategies to discover that motivation and cultivate it, but we can’t conjure it from the ether.
No matter the topic, if you’re going to learn anything, you have to have a spark of interest. Without it, the best teacher in the world couldn’t build up your flame. You don’t need prior knowledge, you don’t need to be “smart”, you need to be curious. Unless you want to know, you’re never really going to learn.
Every musician knows what spark I mean. You have to love music. If music doesn’t call to you and draw you in... you could take lessons and practice, but it would all be just information, without significance. It’s a rare person who can stick to music lessons out of sheer discipline. I can’t imagine why anyone would do it. For most of us, only a true desire to make music will keep us coming back to the challenges of learning.
Teachers and students alike could stand to worry less about methods and achievement metrics. Worry about that spark. First and foremost, nurture that spark. Don’t let it get lost or neglected or smothered. No spark, no flame.
Read more from Labyrinth Music Blog:
How to help your child practice
Difficult student, don't change
Do you even need a music teacher?
Leaning unfamiliar music in lessons
