Re: Recommended mouthpieces for student?


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Posted by Rick Denney on February 10, 2000 at 17:16:19:

In Reply to: Recommended mouthpieces for student? posted by Ted on February 09, 2000 at 18:48:37:

When I was in graduate school (not music!), I had a professor who was a big name in my business. Studying under him was like taking tuba lessons from Arnold Jacobs. Two-thirds of the grade in his class came from a research project during the semester. The only real requirement for that paper was to shine a light into darkness--do something new. His style was abrasive: He didn't compliment his students, and he didn't care how they felt.

After weeks of hacking through the material and writing quantity rather than quality, I realized that my results would not be good enough. I called a colleague who had studied under this professor in the past. I told him that Dr. So-and-so was a Mean Old Man and didn't motivate us and so on. My friend, from whom I wanted agreement and sympathy, instead did the right thing and told me not to blame the professor just because I didn't measure up.

I could have wallowed in self-pity or gotten angry. Instead, I started over with my research, and with a new frame of mind studied the subject again. Once I was pursuing something instead of just meeting a requirement, the next step became clear. It turned out to be one of the most exciting and important experiences in my life, and marked the boundary between Getting By and Pursuing Excellence.

You want the teachers who demand that you pursue excellence. If you don't want to pursue excellence, find a new thing to learn about. The teachers who do not demand excellence will teach you nothing that will be useful in life.

Teachers are not responsible for how *you* feel. You must take that responsibility for yourself. If you don't, then you'll go through life always blaming others when you don't measure up.

Every time I think I'm being persecuted by a boss or a customer, I think back on that experience. Every time, I realize that the problem is with me, at least in part, and that's the part I can work on.


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