Posted by Rick Denney on September 04, 2003 at 12:09:33:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Becoming a professional posted by r.a. on September 04, 2003 at 08:23:42:
You've hit two good points. One is the medical doctor analogy. What is a medical doctor's training? A decent education (a degree in biology, or pre-med, or whatever), followed by a multi-year job-training program (medical school), followed by on-the-job training (internship), and finally followed by on-the-job specialty training (residency), before one can strike out on his own and declare himself a Physician. If the physician wants to be even more specialized, such as becoming a surgeon (let alone a heart surgeon), he needs yet more residency training. After a basic education, the vast majority of a doctor-in-training's time is spent at the right or left hand of a master, who teaches him by example how to do the job.
Your other good point is that the point of music schools is not to make professional musicians, but to make competent musicians. Most of the applicants at an orchestra (or military band, or quintet, or jazz band) audition are competent. Only a few are superior, and only one will be the best on that day. Competent musicians can beget other competent musicians, and this improves our lives by any measure. But it ain't the goal that was stated by the parent.
Rick "who thinks people answer different quenstions than the one asked" Denney