Teaching Genius

This is the title of a book I am reading. It is subtitled "Dorothy DeLay and the Making of a Musician." The author is Barbara Lourie Sand.  My first question was: is the title referring to the teacher or the student?  I guess in this case, the answer is both.  DeLay is one of the legendary violin teachers of the Juilliard School of Music.  Her students include Itzhak Perlman, Midori, Sarah Chang and the list goes on and on.  The book is about an American woman who became one of history's greatest pedagogues.

I want to share a quote from the book.  There are many more to come, but this one is enough to chew on for awhile.

Delay is basically in the business of teaching her pupils how to think, and to trust their ability to do so effectively.  This is a much more difficult undertaking than telling them to copy what she does, or to repeat a passage over and over until it--at least in theory--gets better.  To Delay, learning and thinking are inextricable connected, and the core of her philosophy lies in continually challenging her students to look for their own answers. (pages 65-66)

Isn't this our most important and primary goal as teachers and parents?  This is what Doris Harrel is after in every single teacher trainer class she teaches, maybe it is a Juilliard thing. . . but Doris teaches how and why to trust our musical instinct.  She was the first teacher to teach me that.  She teaches how to find musical clues, through harmony and texture and countless other hints from the composer.  I'll never go to Juilliard, and I'll never perform in Carnegie Hall, but I know how to trust the musical instincts I do have.  I know how to teach that to a child.  I'm not saying I have mastered this.  I'm just getting started.  But, after all, knowing what the goal is, is half of getting there.

If we do our jobs as parents, we nurture our kids today for a healthy independent adulthood tomorrow. We all want the next generation to be smarter, happier, more self actualized, more spiritual, wealthier. . insert your own family goal.

If I do my job as a piano teacher, the students will graduate from the studio with the confidence, insight, and intuition to interpret any piece of classical piano music.  Best case scenario, if I do my very best job, the student goes on in life to be a better musician than me and maybe even comes back as guest teacher.  Nothing would make me happier.