A musician’s growth. Music school.

I’ve decided to touch on a topic that’s crucial for many musicians in terms of professionalism. It concerns the training and development of musicians. I’ll talk a little about the principles of selection for traditional music education, as well as self-study.

MUSIC SCHOOL.

Music teachers know that a new student needs to be assessed before they begin their studies. This includes assessing their initial skills, potential, physical abilities relative to their age, musical qualities, and desire. How this is determined depends on the teacher. Selection is based solely on teaching experience. Some use classical methods, others their own. Below, I’ll share how I did it.

Stage 1. Desire.
Desire is interest. Desire is freedom of choice. Desire is ambition. Desire is passion. Desire is a zeal for knowledge and skills. These qualities are tested through closed-ended questions.

Stage 2. Musical qualities.
Feelings generated by music. How well the candidate senses music, regardless of any training (i.e., naturally). A sense of tempo, a sense of rhythm, a sense of meter, a sense of beat, the five types of musical ear, etc. Every teacher knows how to test these qualities.

Stage 3. Physiological skills.
How fine motor skills and the vocal apparatus work. Motor skills are tested using clay modeling, gripping an expander, etc. A new student’s voice is never tested on an instrument, as many are not yet familiar with intonation. Basic characteristics are tested: pitch, clarity, duration, etc.

Stage 4. Potential.
Potential is tested after all the stages. This is the very last and most important stage. The teacher’s decision depends on it. Each component of a musician’s characteristics and qualities contains hidden growth. The teacher’s job is to determine the extent of this growth and help the student achieve it.

Physiological, technical, psychological, and moral. At this stage, the teacher determines the student’s talent. This stage tests the student’s ability to learn independently. Provide a musical instrument or play a melody, and observe the student’s actions. Sometimes they grasp the idea immediately, and at this point you can already tell they’re talented. Sometimes they think for a bit, and only then do they start to get it right. Sometimes nothing works at all. And so…

There are three stages of development in learning. These stages are identified right at the beginning of the selection process.

Stage 1: When the student didn’t understand what they were doing wrong, and it was necessary to explain what they had done wrong.
It wasn’t done correctly. And they don’t yet understand how it should have been done, because they lack experience. They haven’t yet passed this stage. Everything is new to them. They make mistakes.

Stage 2: When the student, without any explanation, understands how it should have been done; they already feel and sense how it should have been done.
It was done correctly. They lack experience, but they subconsciously execute it correctly. The movements are clumsy, but correct. There are fewer mistakes.

Stage 3. When the student, even before they’ve started, already knows how to play.
This is even better than the teacher. They lack experience, but with such talent, it’s not a problem. It feels as if they were made for this. Their movements are sometimes very precise, sometimes blurry. There are no mistakes, just slight inaccuracies.

If we were looking at a single person, the time between these stages would vary. Since teachers already understand the stages the student will need to go through, they begin to understand the musician’s potential.

How the student practices, how much effort they put in, and how many times they practice correcting mistakes determine their growth. Whether they practice regularly or occasionally determines their progress.

After this, the teacher has three options:

Don’t take the student.
Take them into their class.
Refer them to another specialist.

At the same time, the teacher should ask themselves the following questions:

What can I teach the student? (is it worth taking responsibility for teaching this particular student)

Can they grow with my help? (Are there any alternatives besides you as a teacher?)

Is my methodology suitable for this student? (Will the teacher’s methods be similar in nature and type of teaching?)

To what level can I bring this student? (Does the teacher have the same talent as the student?)

Will I harm the student?

Every teacher takes responsibility for the education of another person. By teaching music, a teacher also teaches their worldview on everything that happens in the world.

Remember this!