Assessing talent

It came up again this week, talent.


We have all heard it from time to time, “does my kid have talent?” or its variation, “Do I have talent?"

Do you mean, I respond, “Can you/they win American Idol, become a pop culture commodity and benefit financially from excessive adulation, and live the life of rich and famous?” Probably not.

Or do you mean, “Do you/they have the ambition, desire, patience, focus, clarity of purpose, time, money, access to resources, and family support to realize your/their potential?” I don’t know.

Or, do I respond, “After you/they have put in 10,000 hours of focused practice lets revisit the question.”

Or, do I respond, “How big is your/their desire?”

Others have stated: “talent is ability“, let’s keep practicing!

Cheers,

David Story

Teaching the YouTube musician

A recent phenomenon that we should be cognizant of is YouTube.com. This free video service is quickly revolutionizing music teaching. It is already created an enormously motivated pool of potential new students. A new class of students, which has been flying under the radar for years and a group poorly served by the professional teaching profession I say.

Here’s a typical profile from my studio:

• 10 to 12 years old, oldest is 23
• Male
• An enthusiastic user of the computer, computer games, and the internet
• Loves music, and pop culture
• Has an impatient character
• Possesses high energy
• Self-motivated
• Have definite musical tastes
• The predominant learning style is visual and auditory. In other words, they don’t like to read music.
• They are unresponsive to traditional teaching methods, aims, and processes.
• They fit the classic definition of amateur: for the love of music.

The big question, of course is” how do we serve this group”, or maybe the question is,” Do we want to serve this group?”

 There are few strategies I’ve successfully used:

• I review the instructional video on YouTube with the student. I help correct their technical approach to the piece, typically we redo the fingering.
• I take their musical interests seriously.
• I help them explore other music related to their interests.
• To help their reading, I often write out a phrase of the piece for them to learn.
• I teach them how to assemble the music on the computer using sequencing software.
• I encourage them to think about joining a band or jamming with their friends.

Here are a few outcomes

•  Because they play primarily by ear, love to practice and are highly motivated they typically play with the best groove and feel of all my students.
• Because I take their musical interests seriously, none of them have quit.
• I learned some exciting new music from enthusiastic self-motivated students.

Cheers,

David Story

Holiday Recital 2009

Christmas Recital was initiated last (2008) year, it replaced previously existed General recital.


We thought that the idea of Holiday recital will be more attractive for the teachers/students. It also would allow non-discriminative entries to all students, who would like to participate and enrich their experience in public performance; proved to be very successful.

This year we had more than 50 entries and decided to divide recital in two parts: Junior- Early Intermediate group at 4pm and Late Intermediate- Senior Group at 5pm. Dr. Tiiu Haamer – Recital coordinator required a dress code for this recital – kids were beautifully dressed, which added to the festive spirit.

It was a full house at RBG – very well attended. Everyone loved the new venue - RBG Auditorium. Very “intimate and inviting” in Dr. Joan Heels words. We had a privilege to use 7”grand piano for free – courtesy of YPC.

Many participants took pictures around RBG which was beautifully decorated for the holiday season.

Wonderful experience for our students and truly enjoyable for parents.

Olga Tcherniak