Excellent and successful students often possess the following traits. Students with such traits really are different from “the pack”.
1. They have the will to improve, not just the desire for success, and will put in the work necessary every single day
2. They have an intense and insatiable curiosity about music and “go the extra mile” in the large and small things they do
3. They prepare all material completely for each lesson
4. They independently find out who the great performers are on their instrument, learn about them, and listen to them often
5. They independently investigate the repertoire for their instrument and find music that they’re interested in learning.
6. They arrive on time/early and ready to play for a lesson, warmed up with good reeds, etc.
7. They treat their teachers and peers with respect and work on positive collaboration
8. They realize they have a lot to learn and that learning to become a musician is a lifelong journey
9. They generally trust the experience and judgement of their teachers, even if ideas don’t make sense right away, but also ask challenging questions of their teachers
10. When they have a rough day/lesson, they’re truthful about the reasons, and do not provide excuses. (You can make excuses or progress, but not both.)
11. They attend recitals and concerts given by their peers and teachers to support them and learn from them
12. They find several recordings of repertoire they’re learning and research the performers
13. They realize they have much to learn from their peers, even if they are the stronger performer
14. They are highly self-motivated and will delay gratification in some things now to reap greater rewards later
15. They sometimes cause their teacher to say, “Wow, I didn’t know that!”
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