| Gee, I wish I had discovered this earlier in the year. The comments are fascinating and insightful.
How do you know if your kid is good enough is a question gnawing at many parents who are hesitating about whether to invest heavily in their child's decision to pursue a music career. We are in a small rural midwestern town (pop. 20,000) with an abysmal hs but fortunately a so so university with great teachers. S discovered jazz sax in 8th grade and dove into it, practicing many hours a day to please a teacher he admired and who inspired him. From the beginning, he thought wanted to go to Eastman. I don't really know why.
We've wracked our brains to keep him interested and not let his motivation wane. Have survived a change of teachers going into soph. year of hs, great run during soph year with his own combo which fizzled when older fellow musicians graduated and went away to college, hs music teacher who was not only unsupportive but resentful of S's interest in music. I agree about state contests not being all that much use. Our observation is that they are very political and reputation of school/teacher plays significantly into who is chosen unless you play a less popular instrument.
We were lucky to have 4 great teachers at the local univ over the past 2 years who have all supported and encouraged S in his endeavors. However, no one told us if he was good enough. What helped their was summer programs. S participated in 3 summer jazz programs where he discovered that the only difference between the best students there and him was how much they practiced on a regular basis. So he upped his practice regimen (min. 4 hrs./day on school days/more on weekends) and organized it to be sure he was covering both classical/jazz/theory/piano.
To make a long story short, despite what might be seen as disadvantages when competing with kids who went to big high schools with great programs, won all sorts of all-state awards, etc., S auditioned at 3 schools and was accepted at all with significant aid from 2 of them. He's chosen to attend Eastman in the fall.
Keep up the good work. |