A reader sent me this link a while back, and I forgot to mention it. It’s a little bit of satire which – like most satire – has more than a grain of truth attached to it.
The best thing is for you to read it for yourselves. But in a nutshell, the point it is making can be summed up as follows.
John Man is a young violinist who has been struggling for years to overcome his limitations as a musician…
“I tried just playing the way I want over and over and over again, hoping that it would get better,” he said. “It never did! It was like, the more I played it the same way the more it would sound the same. What could I do?”
Finally, out of sheer desperation, Man started doing what his teacher had been telling him to do in every lesson for the past five years. “The results have been incredible!” said Man. “It’s as if following the advice of an older, more experienced musician allows me to somehow cultivate effective working habits better than my own.”
It illustrates clearly the confusion over what “coaching” actually means among many driving instructors. Many would argue that Man’s original approach – to do it his way, and to ignore the advice of those who know better – was how coaching should be (this is how many of those who post on forums see it). In fact, his teacher was the coach, and when he started doing what he was told he managed to start improving beyond what he’d been taught. That’s real coaching.