When I was at Cleveland Institute of Music, I asked my teacher, Larry Angel who played Principal Bass with the Cleveland Orchestra, "Larry, do you think I'll make it? I mean, do you think I have what it takes?"
Larry stroked his chin, formulating his response, searching his mind for the right answer. He knew that whatever he said would essentially be a double-edged sword. It could help or it could hurt. I'll paraphrase his response.
"That's a difficult question to answer," he said. "It's one that I'd prefer not to answer. You see, if I say yes, that just might energize you, put the wind that you need in your sails, so to speak, and push you on to success. On the other hand, if for some reason you don't succeed, you might blame me for giving you bad information, saying that I lied and should have told you the truth so you wouldn't waste your life in a useless pursuit.
Now if I say no, you might quit right here and now in defeat, or, you might tell me to go jump in the lake, (That would be Lake Erie.) and get all fired up and go home and practice 10 hours a day.
Frankly, I'd rather stay neutral on the topic, if that's OK," he said.
I saw his point. Students have their ups and downs. They're fragile at times and full of themselves at others. My ability to be a fortune teller is not part of my teaching skill set, so when a student asks me the question I asked Larry, I give the same answer. The fact is, that I just don't know.
I've seen potentially hot students fizzle and I've seen people go from "just OK" to amazing, as if they'd been struck by lightning or sprinkled with fairy dust. Who knows?
Why not just fairly and honestly give the student the truth they need, meaning, give them accurate information on how to play better and how to be a better musician. That I can do and that I can control. And you'll always thank your teacher for that.
Larry stroked his chin, formulating his response, searching his mind for the right answer. He knew that whatever he said would essentially be a double-edged sword. It could help or it could hurt. I'll paraphrase his response.
"That's a difficult question to answer," he said. "It's one that I'd prefer not to answer. You see, if I say yes, that just might energize you, put the wind that you need in your sails, so to speak, and push you on to success. On the other hand, if for some reason you don't succeed, you might blame me for giving you bad information, saying that I lied and should have told you the truth so you wouldn't waste your life in a useless pursuit.
Now if I say no, you might quit right here and now in defeat, or, you might tell me to go jump in the lake, (That would be Lake Erie.) and get all fired up and go home and practice 10 hours a day.
Frankly, I'd rather stay neutral on the topic, if that's OK," he said.
I saw his point. Students have their ups and downs. They're fragile at times and full of themselves at others. My ability to be a fortune teller is not part of my teaching skill set, so when a student asks me the question I asked Larry, I give the same answer. The fact is, that I just don't know.
I've seen potentially hot students fizzle and I've seen people go from "just OK" to amazing, as if they'd been struck by lightning or sprinkled with fairy dust. Who knows?
Why not just fairly and honestly give the student the truth they need, meaning, give them accurate information on how to play better and how to be a better musician. That I can do and that I can control. And you'll always thank your teacher for that.
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