I landed at a student vocalist’s site earlier today. I’m not even sure how I wound up there; I’m guessing she used the word “oboe” somewhere in her blog entry. She’s at a university here in the US, and is majoring in voice. I’m not sure what her intentions are when it comes to using her degree, but she included a recording of her singing at her site.
I hate sounding harsh (and I’ll never link to her site and there are plenty of voice students out there so no one could ever guess who it is. I will tell you it’s not anywhere near where I live, so don’t be guessing these schools!), but she sounded awful. She had a strange tone quality, she was out of tune, and I was surprised she was willing to put this up there as a sample of her singing.
But it got me to pondering something I’ve pondered before: What do we owe our university students?
If the singer’s teacher heard her recording do you think that teacher should say something to the poor singer? If a teacher knows with certainty that a musician hasn’t a chance of succeeding, does that teacher owe it to the student to tell the truth? How should such a thing be done?
I love to be proven wrong. When I’m teaching my younger private students there have been times when I’ve thought to myself, “This student is never going to figure this instrument out,” and while I’ve sometimes been correct, I’ve also had to eat my unspoken words in some cases. I like that. It keeps me from dismissing a student until I’m absolutely sure oboe isn’t a possibility for him or her. (Truth be told, every student I’ve had who has been in the “not likely camp” and never did get it has quit before I’ve had to suggest the quitting option.) I had one student I was just sure was not going to be able to deal with oboe and that student not only proved me wrong, but became one of my finest students.
Can that happen at a university level as well? Do we owe our students our patience, perseverance, and encouragement in all instances? Or is there a point at which we should be required to have an honest, face the truth session where we say, “You can do this and I hope you enjoy every minute, but you aren’t going to win an audition in a professional orchestra”? Are we wasting a student’s time and money if we put up with something that isn’t good enough? Are we setting them up for failure? Or, if we don’t say anything, are we possibly dealing with some students who will, just around the corner, have some monumental moment that causes them to blossom? If we do say, “Ain’t gonna happen, baby,” are we missing out on a possibility for genius or are we saving some students from years of discouragement?
Thoughts?
But yeah, probably saying, “Ain’t gonna happen, baby,” isn’t quite the right way to put it, eh? ;-)
