My Personal Music Mentors
For the majority of of us in the arts and related sectors, mentoring plays a huge part in the learning process. Those who went to college can name a person or two who acted as their mentor throughout their college years.
I’ve had several music mentors (my primary art form), and they usually fall into one of two categories: those who taught me the art of making music, and those who gave me opportunities to grow in music.
Among those who taught me music, I had 4 private piano instructors between age 9 and my sophomore year of college. Each and every one played a part in my development, but one in particular stood out as a mentor more than the others. While three of my music mentors concentrated mainly on method and expression, my instructor through high school recognized my gift in songwriting, and being a songwriter herself, tailored my training to include theory and contemporary songwriting, as well as classical training. Rather than just take me through a system, she took an interest in me as a musician and sought to develop me as an artist.
I had private instruction under 2 composition professors while I was in college taking up composition as my major and like my four previous mentors one of the two stood out. He discovered my weak points and strong points as a composer and he provided me with a task that will help me grow. He was not just a teacher, but also a personal coach, willing to deal with my human side, my attitude concerns and my meltdowns in the process.
There were also some mentors along the way who did not really teach me music, but recognized the gift and made room for it. As a young man of music I invested most of my time in the church and the individuals in the choir allowed me to use the musical and recording instruments which gave me room to hone my skills and learn from my shortcomings. These people were my private cheerleaders, but even more than that, they had a hand in building a foundation of success under me.
There are two things I seem to remember when I think about my music mentors. First off, those mentors that really affected me were the individuals who took interest in me, as a musician and as a person. Second – looking back at my growth, I believe my mentors played more of a role in my education than my collegiate studies..Even though a few of my teachers and mentors were in the college scenario, it was the personal attention that helped me develop in music, far more than the classes, homework or tests. College was helpful in my development, but my music mentors were pivotal in my development.
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