"Mentor m, Mentor me sir! (Part Three).. The Conclusion
FOR MUSICIANS.
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TORMENTORS...
Who else remembers Dementors in Harry Potter Series?
Some people you call mentors are actually tormenting you! Mentors are supposed to know a whole lot about their field, when your mentor lacks proper knowledge of his field, you are directly in torment! Pray for deliverance!
Just like when your singing mentor tells you to be taking very hot water to clear your voice, to keep shouting until your voice opens. When your music mentor tells you that you don't need to learn to play in all keys, that what you need is just to learn the key of C Major, then you can start going for ministration (performances) with your saxophone! Ahhhh!
Just like when your music tutor tells you that the key of C has five minors and seven majors. The list goes on and on!
* Be careful who mentors you! Be careful who teaches you.
The problem with beginners is that they don't usually have a way of rating the people who teaches them. The fact that many quack and unqualified people are masquerading as good music instructors is not helping at all!
Now the question is "How do you rate your teacher?" What are the standards you should be looking forward to? What assurance do you have that your instructor is qualified to teach you?
I used to be in this position long time ago when I was starting out. I didn't know how to rate or evaluate my teachers. It was a big shock to me when I realised that the people I held in high esteem didn't know much about what they taught us, in fact, a lot of us are still suffering from the bad effects of the wrong things we were taught.
Beginners are always blinded by sentiments and showy displays that they forget "all that glitters is not gold." For example, a beginner would rather be impressed by a keyboardist jumping all over the keyboard with no content and knowledge, than the more balanced one who does not play much. They would rather be impressed by the saxophonist who plays a combination of 7 colour fancy saxophone with no content, than the one with the normal saxophone who is balanced.
Now, how do you know if your teacher is qualified to teach you?
I would have told you about standard certification which is good, but good stuffs does not always come from standard certificate holders these days!
What does authorities on the subject say about your teacher? When I say authorities, I mean national or international authorities, not the local ones. Your teacher's local clique will vouch for him whether he is good or bad (after all, they are birds of a feather), but what is the national or international authorities saying about him? Do your research thoroughly, go to the internet, Facebook is a very good place to start. What about his online presence? Go through his posts, go through his timeline! The
results will speak for itself.
Recently, a new client of mine told me that her former guitar instructor is very good! I was shocked because the client didn't even have a good music foundation, doesn't understand anything about keys, notes, scales, chords etc. I had to explain to her the bitter truth, and guess what? She was shocked! I told her to always go online and do further search about the things we will be teaching her, that is another way to know if your teacher is giving you the right things.
Now to those Tormentors...
You can fool some people some times, but you cannot fool people all the time! Good musicians will see through you immediately. They will see you don't have what you are claiming to have. They will see you are a fake!
Nonnysax 17-01-2018.
#MusicUpgrade2018.
