Laura B
Chapter Summary: Many of us grow up in life being taught that we have to do things the right way. Our hands should be a certain position when we play the piano and we play scales with specific fingering patterns. In order to get the correct sound we want with our voice, we must curve our tongue like this, or breath like this, or stand like this. We learn from a young age that we must find the right way or fail. How confusing it becomes when a "master" performer performs in a way that we had thought was incorrect, yet produces a wonderful sound. How perplexing it is when a teacher tells us to do something that is contradictory to the what we had learned to be the "right" way. In Ristad's experience with teaching a class of future piano teachers, she expresses the importance the importance of not being tied down to rules and what they felt the right way was. Instead, she had them experiment through many different activities to figure out the best way for them.
Key Concept: We are the only ones who truly can know ourselves, so we have to figure things out for ourselves and not rely on the limitations of others.
Key Terms: "right way," experimentation
Making Connections: I am one of those students who always felt like there was a right way to things and I needed to follow the guidance of mentors and teachers to figure out the right way. I have often been confused when guidance given to me seemed to contradict previous guidance I had received. I now more fully understand the importance with working through things personally and figuring out for myself what is the best way.
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