Musicianship

      Musicianship, or one’s level of success as a musician, is traditionally viewed as their technical proficiency, chair placement, assessment scores, achievement of solos or awards, or other tangible accomplishments. While these things are all important factors in reaching the ultimate expertise and virtuosity as a performer and gaining the experience needed to be successful in a music career, one’s true success as a musician lies in their passion for the art and goes far deeper than their recognizable capabilities as a performer.

      When I imagine a student with admirable musicianship, I see a fire within them when given the opportunity to learn; they love music so deeply that they do not need recognition or awards as motivation to become proficient on their instrument or concentration, or just to become their own personal definition of a musician, whatever their role may be in the world of music. Examples of this may be a student who comes from a low-income family and cannot afford a quality instrument but still loves learning how to play the school-owned violin, or a student with a physical or mental illness/disability who may struggle with motor skills or staying engaged in a long ensemble rehearsal but spends their free block in the band library discovering new composers and repertoire for their instrument. Both of these students may have a harder time reaching the same level of technical proficiency as their peers, however they display the same level of musicianship through their passion for the discipline and using their resources to do whatever their situation allows them to when learning and growing as a musician.

      Reaching a high level of musicianship also means contributing to the collective just as much as the individual; this means both understanding one’s role in an ensemble/how it may differ from their own belief of their role and encouraging and uplifting other musicians around them to be the best versions of themselves. Having a positive attitude toward music and minimizing competition between peers is a key illustration of musicianship, often highlighted in situations with auditions and placements, and is incredibly important when playing among others in an ensemble. Musicianship is recognizing that each individual is on their own personal journey that may look completely different from one’s own, and there is no timeline to reaching success as a musician, referring to my previous examples of students displaying musicianship in ways that may not be traditionally “successful.” Success manifests in more ways than those that can be seen on the surface, and much of one’s musical success, thus their musicianship, stems from their inner passion and devotion to the art.