Used under Creative Commons License
Originally published April 18, 2011 on Sound Education Blog.
Performing, listening to, and enjoying great music are their own rewards. But most people recognize that there are many additional life lessons learned while studying music. We discussed these lessons in a 2010 #MusEdChat collaborative session on Twitter. This series of blog posts contains my reflections on that discourse. Thank you to those who participated in the conversation.
Music Life Lesson #10: Setting Goals
The preparation and mastery of a piece of music is not something that happens without planning. Done correctly; goals are set, plans are developed, progress is monitored, and levels of success are noted. The practice of setting goals is important in all sectors of our lives and is one of the many skills fostered through the study music.
In a high school music ensemble, there are some lessons in setting goals that do not relate directly to music, and which are nonetheless beneficial. Ensembles often travel on performance tours and there is a need to raise money to be able to participate. There may also be fundraisers with specific purchase goals in mind, such as a new marimba or uniforms. Specific end dates are set for a fundraiser. Means to achieve the goal may be set by the director, boosters, or perhaps students leadership. Progress is often tracked to keep students from falling behind. The life lesson often becomes the most real to a student the first time a goal is not met and they experience first hand the disappointment that results. And of course the benefit of setting and following through is reinforced when the goal is met.
A successful musician must be setting goals all the time. We have goals about the preparation of a particular piece of music for the purpose of performance. We make specific goals to attain certain levels of proficiency on our instrument. We make goals regarding successfully auditioning for honor groups, universities, scholarships, or winning seats into bands, orchestras, or other performance ensembles we desire to join. In addition to an umbrella goal of (for instance) having a piece of music ready to go by a certain date, it is useful to break it down and set many sub-goals that will help in the overall sucess. Goals should be written down and reviewed often. They may be modified as better solutions are discovered during the process. It is helpful to share your goals with a teacher or friend in order to be accountable to them in addition to yourself.
So can someone be a successful musician without being a goal-setter? Yes. However they are likely riding on pure talent and luck and would be doing much better had they focused their efforts. And that’s really what goals are all about: identifying a problem, putting forward a solution, and then maintaining focus on both until the problem has been overcome. On a smaller scale, it is what a conductor does during a rehearsal in order to clean troubled passages. It’s what we do in ‘woodshedding’ a difficult passage during individual practice.
Each time a goal is set and met, the process is reinforced for the student. While they will need to be taught and encouraged to actively set and monitor goals, they will soon adopt the process as their own modus operandi as they experience successes. As with other lessons from music, goal setting is easily adaptable to all aspects of a person’s life. While difficult to quantify, I believe there are a great number of accomplished people in all walks of life that owe no small part of their success to skills and habits learned studying music.
What About You?
How has organizing your life by setting goals brought you success? Can you relate your goal setting habits to lessons you learned studying music? If following through on plans has been a weak point for you, what steps can you take to improve your success? Please share your story in the comments.
This is part 10 of a 12 part series.
