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Alexander deVaron
December, 2013
Every semester dozens, maybe hundreds, of music students here at the Boyer College
have moments when they wonder what they’re doing here, training so intensively in
music. Some may question it as a career choice, some may question their talent– many
questions and doubts come up. Because students occasionally come to me for advice on
these matters, I decided to share with you four statements from my teachers that have
been most helpful to me. Many of you will not need to contemplate or soul search in this
way, your course in music may have been charted for a long time. To those who may
seek guidance, just remembering these four wise statements may be of great benefit to
you.
---Maurice Wright
It ‘s not always easy to know if you have talent. Here are some clues: You’re really good
at music; you feel more present and completely engaged than when you’re doing
anything else; it’s the only thing you can do for hours and hours without noticing you’re
tired or hungry; when you’re making music your engagement has a quality of directness
that you rarely experience in any other aspect of your life. There are many other clues,
If you have a hunch that you do have some kind of gift, that’s where the practice
of stewardship comes in. Stewardship in this context means caring for your talent,
A Few Words on Becoming a Musician
Alexander deVaron
December, 2013
making sure it has what it needs to flourish. You can think of the way stewards of parks
make sure all the animals and plants of the park radiate beauty and vitality, the full
expression of what they are. We could care for our own talent in the same way.
---Diane Reibel
The first thing to clarify is what kind of music has “the juice” for you. “Juice” is the way
participating in it. Maybe it’s a particular style of music, or a way of making music.
For some of you, discovering this could be a long and sometimes process of trying
different things. For others, there may have never been a question. For me the process
has been a bit of both. In high school and college I had three teachers in a row who said,
“ you’re very talented, extremely musical, you’re just not going to be an x. And in each
case, x was what I happened to be studying with them at the time! So it might take a few
years to sort this out, and it might mean making incredible sacrifices in other areas of
your life. If you’re convinced music, and the stewardship of your talent is worth it, the
whole journey bubbles with unimaginable rewards, both for you, and for those with
Once you’ve developed some confidence about your connection with music, or at least
realized it’s choiceless, then it’s time to lean into your craft as a musician. If you have an
A Few Words on Becoming a Musician
Alexander deVaron
December, 2013
obvious wealth of talent, it’s possible to many things well in music. If you’re like the rest
of us mortals, it helps to focus, to devote yourself to one aspect of your craft. Here it
helps to find a mentor, a teacher you trust completely. Finding a lineage of musicians,
and placing yourself within that lineage, focuses and accelerates your training.
participation
Now that you’re truly ready to devote yourself to music, you’ll need a working
understanding of what devotion is. The quotation above mentions two essential qualities.
Absence of arrogance means that you’re open to the instruction of your teachers. If you
have a teacher who holds a specific music lineage, it means your willing to take part in
that particular lineage. If you are studying more broadly, it means being willing to
acknowledge the wisdom and accuracy of the feedback your getting from many different
If that level of openness is in place, then the only remaining ingredient is just plain
exertion, complete participation in your training. This usually means simplifying your
life, and making sure you schedule significant time for daily practice or composition or
study. This is where just do it comes in. It doesn’t matter whether you feel like doing it
or not. Usually if you don’t feel like it, after a few minutes of settling in, you do feel like
it.
A Few Words on Becoming a Musician
Alexander deVaron
December, 2013
Knowing how to practice or compose or study in the next key point, and that is too long a
subject to include in this discussion. Plus, many great musicians have already done so.
(See also my instructions for effective practicing, Six Guidelines for composing Music.
And selected texts listed at the end of this article). The main point here is that there is no
way to avoid diligent, consistent effort to develop your craft. It may sound like the
Protestant work ethic, but it’s music, so it’s one of the healthiest and rewarding things a
person can do. At a certain point, perhaps daily is no longer necessary. Yet for most of
If you bring energetic and wholehearted discipline to your music, but your arrogant, you
won’t be open to the instruction of your teachers, so your progress will be limited, or
lopsided. If you’re humble and open, but lack the energy of wholehearted participation
and exertion, you may be ready to make great strides in the right direction, but you’ll
Two different mentors said this to me at very different points in my life, so I’m beginning
to think it’s true! You can define “body of work” very broadly. It could be dozens of
compositions, or it could mean hundreds (or thousands) of students who have been
music therapist, and many other possibilities. It is some way that, day after day, you go
Alexander deVaron
December, 2013
As a society we need music now more than ever. As the pace of our culture accelerates,
and we spend more time in front of machines, we run the risk of losing touch with some
of the most important aspects of being human. It becomes increasingly difficult simply
to know what emotions might be moving through our being at any given moment. With
music we remind ourselves that one of our primary jobs as humans is to allow ourselves
to feel, to be touched by our world. As musicians, we can offer this reminder not only to