PA Shorts: Give Yourself Permission
Ruth Reichl had a mouthful to say on the difference between an amateur and a professional on a recent episode of The Splendid Table.
The difference between you and me is that you are a trained chef. You went to culinary school. You cook differently than I… I feel like every time I cook I’m learning… Give yourself permission to make mistakes, to try things you’ve never tried before. Stop thinking that you have to be a chef in your own kitchen… I feel like we in the media have a lot to answer for because you don’t have to be so result oriented and you’re really depriving yourself of, for me, the pleasure of cooking.
I think that this nails the real source of what can be a rift in the piano teaching community and the root of unnecessary guilt trips on the part of teachers and amateur pianists. We are dealing with apples and oranges (mandatory food reference to tie this all together). Do we really have to train every student as though they will have international careers or should many have the pleasure of trying new things for the pure pleasure of it?
Talk amongst yourselves piano addicts. Talk amongst yourselves.
I agree, not everyone has to be trained as if they are to become a world class pianist. Some people just want to play for fun, and get their enjoyment from that. Thanks for the article.