The Making of a Musician

I recently spent several days serving as an evaluator at a National Fine Arts Festival. One can only hope that in the few minutes we are engaged with the student musician we can actually communicate in a few words, hand written on a score sheet something that will positively impact them. This awesome responsibility causes me to reflect on how difficult it was for me to play in front of the “judges”. The hours of practice and the inspiration of those around me were all part of the cost in the making of a musician. In just a few minutes, one person could tear all that work down by making degrading comments or being completely subjective. No matter how hard we try, I’m sure there are comments that I have made that a student or teacher feels I’m from another planet. In five minutes or less, we have to make a split second decision to focus on one or two aspects of the musician’s performance and offer constructive criticism.

The interesting thing I’ve noticed in listening to musicians from all over the United States at a National level event is regardless of the student’s background, training or talent, they are all there, each one on the surface for the same reason. Then there is the realization that some are there because someone told them they should be and others because they were driven. I was one of those people, driven by something deep inside me, a desire to learn, overcome and achieve new levels as a musician. Once I reached another plateau, I had to reach for another and each achievement in itself was just a step and although the higher you reached, there were fewer and fewer of us striving to climb another. The difference between the two types of musicians is stunning. Even at the national level there are “average” musicians and yet in their schools and churches they are considered the “cream of the crop”. Some surely leave these events devastated and others perplexed as to why they didn’t fair so well. That would take a book to cover all those topics.

The point I really want to make here is how important the mentors are in relationship to these musicians. Pour into them and make sure you are honest and fair. Build them up but don’t elevate them to a place where they crash when they fail. I truly believe the mentor is the key to bringing this all into balance. No two musicians are alike……we are all like snowflakes and many times just as delicate. The success of a musician is built on talent but talent alone will not bring a musician to maturity. My band directors and instructors were both honest and pushy. They told me when I was bad and they pushed me when I was good. Knowing when to criticize and motivate are all about timing and consistency. A musician is an artist and they need to hear their mentor both rave about them and critique them in the right moment. Indeed, each one will grow depending on how you nurture their raw talent and exercise their discipline.

It is my hope that in the five minutes we have as evaluators with a single musician, we can at least tap into what makes them tick and pull something out of them their mentor had mentioned or worked on with them. They should already know what we are going to say and yet, they must decide to carry on and take it to the next level. Never underestimate what a musician can become. My mentors have and still continue to stretch me and with that I am grateful. That may be the single most important part of building a musician.