More often than not, when a student starts something brand new, they will utter, “This is hard,” and not want to continue. This is especially true if it’s something they didn’t already want to know. Younger students often don’t yet have the experience to know that through struggling comes growth. Even adults will sometimes give into frustration if they aren’t picking something up as quickly as they think they should. But let’s think back to when we were babies, so persistent and determined to get mobile; scooting, crawling, standing, and finally walking and running. We applaud those small advances. Can’t we also applaud our own musical baby steps?
Of course we can!
The key is in our mindset, and how we approach learning and growing. Too often I’ve seen students get frustrated in their lessons because they can’t quite sing those high notes just yet, or they can’t get that chord progression smoothly.
We can’t expect to navigate foreign territory as if we’ve lived there all our lives.
As a student, allow yourself to struggle. Through struggling, you gain strength and growth. When you overcome the thing you are struggling with, you also gain the confidence in knowing what you’ve achieved from all your hard work. When you practice a section over and over again and finally master it, not only are you training your physical body, but your mind and emotions as well.
Struggling also shapes you as a person AND as an artist, musician, and performer.
Your coach has gone through these struggles already, and that is how they can help you to navigate these areas in your musical journey that you are just entering.