Over the years, I have recognized a hurdle that stunts student development in orchestra. I can ask a class, who is a runner or a cheerleader or a mathematician or any other identity driven marker and there will always be students who use those in the checklist of who they are. But for some reason, I can ask the same question about who is a musician and aside from the reticent “well, I’m in orchestra...so by default I’m a musician” most students don’t wear this badge around as openly. I’m not saying they don’t care or it isn’t important, they just don’t quite identify as a musician. But I don’t understand the inability to tag ourselves with this one. We don’t expect the runners to be leading in the Boston Marathon. We don’t expect the cheerleaders to be able to do backflips off a pyramid three people high. And We don’t expect the math geeks to be solving the world’s great economic questions. Why is the standard of musician so exclusively available to those of a certain caliber or talent? One of my goals this year is to help break down that barrier and allow the badge of musician to be worn proudly by more than just the elite members. Don’t get me wrong. It still matters. Not just anyone can walk around and proclaim “I am a musician!” You still have to do the work and you still must have the intention of making music as a key component of your life. I have to wonder if it’s this idea of identity that gets in the way of students forming healthy practice habits. The same habits that create a musician. In James Clear’s work, (here or here) he discusses the power of the small micro actions that compound over time to create the habits that comprise the identity we aspire to hold. These micro actions are actually the habits. Meaning, the tiny actions that have become so habituated, routine and rote that hardly a thought is given toward their expression. Thus, they do not get in the way or impede the actions of the sought identity. For example, someone who wants to write more…(like me)...might say I want to get in the habit of writing. But writing is not a routine or habitual act. It’s actually quite challenging and requires a great deal of focus. The habits around writing would be establishing the practices that create the environment in which one could write. So, the habit might be making your favorite tea, sitting down with that tea and opening your laptop. With those habits in place, the work can begin. For musician’s, this might be the little actions of getting your instrument out of the case and setting up your stand until you become the kind of person who always sets up your stand and gets your instrument out of the case...like a musician. The first step toward identifying as a musician. Over time, after you have created this routine without needing to think about how, when or where, you can then get into the work of making music. The two big pieces of this from my perspective are:
I will certainly revisit and expand on these thoughts throughout the years.
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Grant SouderI am an educator, musician, parent and maker. I do my best to live with intention and to create learning environments that foster the same. This blog is an effort to share my thinking and learning. It is in no way a cementation of my understanding but a catalyst for unearthing it. These ideas are living and fluid. Archives
September 2019
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