Taylee - ch13

Summary: Talent can only take you so far. Eventually those who work hard will pass those you rely on natural gifts and then the hard workers will be so much better off, because they'll have really learned the skill they now have. Likewise, there is a lot more to having a successful career than just having a nice voice. You need to develop good people skill as you will have to interact with other collegues, and in the case of teachers parents and students. You need confidence, poise and flair, stage personality. A really important one regardless of your career choice, is being reliable. No one wants to pay for something and not get it. If you're not punctual, or prepared with your materials, people will notice and your career will suffer. You need to take care of yourself! Your body is your instrument, which gives you a much higher responsibility to make good health decisions. MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL... you need to love what you do. Music can be very taxing on the individual. You rehearse late, you practice long hours, you might not have a steady stream of gigs lined up, you sacrifice so much of yourself that if you didn't love every moment of it you'd be setting yourself up for failure. Think about it, you have to tap into your emotions when you are up on stage. The audience will know if you're not really into it. That isn't to say that music can't be extremely rewarding! But it can only be so, when we truly enjoy ourselves when we make music.
Key Terms:
Key Concepts: The student must posses the inner drive!
Making Connections: I've thought a lot about what I want to do with my degree after I'm done with school. Here's what I've come up with: I LOVE to perform, but I don't like living in the city, and I don't love the traveling life. I also want to have a family, and don't want to live a separate life from them. So it seems that choosing a Vocal Performance degree was a little off. Well it might be, but I know I love what I'm learning, and I know that God wants me to be here. I think I've decided that I would really like to get a Master's and Teach at a university level. Until then I want to teach from my private studio, so that I can start a family with Sid. I'm really ok with that though, because I think of music as a gift, and I know that my abilities are definitely gifts from my Heavenly Father. If all he wants me to do is teach music lessons, that is fine with me. I know what a blessing music has been in my life and I would be honored to help others benefit from music as well.