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American String Teachers Association Conference
Music Education: Supporting Perfectionists in their Violin Learning
Perfectionism - and a noisy mind - are conditions that seem to affect a lot of musicians, particularly violinists.
That being the case, I'm not sure if I was looking for help with my teaching or with my own mental state when I attended a session called "Supporting Perfectionists in the Private Studio" at the American String Teachers Association National Conference in Atlanta earlier this spring.
The session was taught by northern Virginia-based violin teacher (and longtime Violinist.com writer) Claire Allen and by Oregon-based teacher, podcaster and author Christine Goodner.
What exactly is a perfectionist, and how do you approach a person with this mindset, whether it's your student, your child, or yourself?
"As classical musicians, we strive for excellence and perfection," Goodner said. For a perfectionist, the gap between reality and perfection (their idea of how things should be) - is always glaringly apparent. That gap can cause anxiety and even paralysis.
So what should a perfectionist do? Should one stop striving for excellence and perfection, in order to preserve mental well-being? Goodner and Allen argued that this is not actually the solution.
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