Wednesday, July 29, 2009

The critical part of yesterday's post is the imagined/remembered question: "Can't they see how clumsy I am?"--a question worthy of some spinning out.

A child honestly believes that adults can discern their every need: after all, don't they feed you when you are hungry and comfort you when you cry?

No matter how intelligent the child there are needs that only a specialist can detect because they know how to pay attention to the whole inarticulate being.

It does not require extraordinary sensitivity for a child to know "how clumsy" he or she is: being consistently the last one chosen for the team is a pretty clear indication of that. But musical talent may be for just such a child the sign that something else is going on--an alternative source of grace and elegance.

Talent does not make the need go away, however. Despite the praise (perhaps overly lavish by way of compensation for the more obvious clumsiness) the child may still feel clumsy, even while being applauded for playing the piano.
What makes your playing convincing is that you can respond quickly and effectively to your own musical insights, conscious or unconscious. A triumphant moment in one student's lesson last week occurred when she purposefully changed an articulation; I heard it and commented on it because it was so clear and so interesting. I pointed it out to her thinking that perhaps she had done it unconsciously, as often happens. Lo and behold! She had done it on purpose. The idea was her own, and it was a good idea. What pleased us both was that it had been clearly audible.

First steps to mastery.