In Praise of Discipline or Yet Another Reason to Make Your Kids Practice
Discipline is a marvelous word which has its origins in the Latin word for learning. There are many definitions but I would define it as, “The capacity to do something anyway (and do it well) when you REALLY don’t feel like it.” This is fine for adults, but are children born with this capacity or do they have to acquire it? Can we expect children to become disciplined on their own?
The answer is “Sometimes yes.” There is a school of thought that says that if children have enough desire to arrive at a goal, then they will do all the unpleasant things necessary in order to reach it. Perhaps, but what if you have a child who has no goal in particular other than playing video games as much as possible or avoiding anything that resembles work? What do you do about a child who has a very short attention span or one would rather be playing with his friends than learning to do anything?
The marvelous video below was recently published by Violinist.com. The cellist, Steven Sharp Nelson, is part of the successful group, The Piano Guys. Here he thanks not only his teachers for giving him his passion for music but his father for the discipline he imposed on him which made it possible for young Steven to pursue this passion. He describes his father as a benevolent dictator who believed in freedom of choice. Here are the choices he offered his son:
- Practice the cello and eat
- Or not
I almost stood up and cheered when I watched this video. If I had been at the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) convention where he gave this speech, I probably would have. Yes, his father was obviously a stern disciplinarian and many would not approve of his tactics but the important thing here is that Nelson IS GRATEFUL to his father and his teachers for not giving up on him even though he was a difficult student.
Nelson said jokingly in another interview* that his father gave him “incentives” which Nelson thought of as “threats.” Whatever. The fact is that he plays, he plays well, and he LOVES music. You can’t argue with success like this.
Have a look.
Share this:
Buy it on www.sharmusic.com - eBook format, avaliable worldwide, paperback in North America
COPYRIGHT
ABOUT
A music teacher’s thoughts and observations on the teaching and the study of a musical instrument, hoping to be of help to parents, students and teachers.
PHOTO
AWARDED TOP 25 VIOLIN BLOG
CATEGORIES
TAGS
ARCHIVES
-
Agosto 2022
Agosto 2023
Agosto 2024
April 2015
April 2016
April 2017
April 2019
April 2020
Aprile 2022
Aprile 2023
Aprile 2024
August 2014
August 2015
August 2016
August 2017
August 2018
August 2019
August 2021
December 2014
December 2015
December 2016
December 2017
December 2018
December 2019
December 2020
Dicembre 2022
Dicembre 2023
Dicembre 2024
Febbraio 2022
Febbraio 2023
Febbraio 2024
February 2015
February 2016
February 2018
February 2019
February 2020
February 2021
Gennaio 2022
Gennaio 2023
Gennaio 2024
Giugno 2022
Giugno 2022
Giugno 2023
Giugno 2024
January 2015
January 2016
January 2017
January 2018
January 2019
January 2020
July 2015
July 2017
July 2019
June 2016
June 2017
June 2018
June 2019
June 2020
June 2021
Luglio 2022
Luglio 2023
Luglio 2024
Maggio 2022
Maggio 2023
Maggio 2024
March 2015
March 2016
March 2017
March 2018
March 2019
March 2020
March 2021
Marzo 2022
Marzo 2023
Marzo 2024
May 2015
May 2016
May 2018
May 2019
May 2020
November 2014
November 2015
November 2016
November 2017
November 2018
November 2019
November 2021
Novembre 2022
Novembre 2023
Novembre 2024
October 2014
October 2015
October 2017
October 2018
October 2019
October 2020
October 2021
Ottobre 2022
Ottobre 2023
Ottobre 2024
September 2014
September 2015
September 2016
September 2018
September 2019
September 2020
September 2021
Settembre 2022
Settembre 2023
Settembre 2024
RECENT POSTS
Terry G and Me, or Terry Gilliam on Where (or What) Practicing the Piano Will Get You…
The Teaching We Don’t Do Is More Important Than We Think
Overwhelmingness or What Teaching and Motherhood* Have in Common
Cellphone Serenity
How to Build Your Reputation – the Kind You Want
Desperate Times, Desperate Measures. Or How to Deal With Your Strong-Willed Stubborn Student and Survive
“Why Does My Teacher Get So Frustrated?” Letter to a Perplexed Student
Mount Rush-no-more….And How to Get There
Realizzato con VelociBuilder - Another Project By: Marketing:Start! - Privacy Policy