Wednesday, July 29, 2009

What About Bob?




This post was a reply to a blog at Music Teacher's Helper. Ed Pearlman posed an interesting question about a hypothetical private music student named Bob. Although he did not give personal details, I presume Bob is a professional adult probably in mid-life career mode. One thing is for sure, Bob loves his music and music lessons.

You can read the entire post here:

What Would You Do? - Bob (#7)


Here is the response:

I know Bob really well. Bob is as passionate about playing as I am teaching. Bob gets about 5% of a new idea each week (maybe) and is happy as a clam to get that. I know Bob loves music and is a life-long learner. My relationship with him goes way beyond his instrument. I know his family and kids, what he does for work and what he dreads. The last thing I will do is 'require' him to play anything.... though he might tell you how I 'gently nag' him to help keep things fresh and moving along.

Music educators should love Bob. There should be professional facilities in every major city who cater to all of the Bob's in the world. If we marketed to all of the Bob's the way say, fishing and golf has marketed to their 'fans', then we wouldn't be begging for jobs every year in academia.

It's the student that matters - not musical results. In Bob we have a life long music lover, a life long music purchaser and a life long learner.

That's a win-win!

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