“We have something that is unique. We have our craft. We have our art. We have our desire.”*
–Branford Marsalis, saxophonist
Craft, art, desire. Add persistent hard work, and what do you get? Artistic and professional success.
Why is it, then, that some students who are passionate about making music and have opportunities to refine their skills will practice intently yet others won’t?
There can be many reasons, but Carol Dweck, Professor of Psychology at Stanford University and author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, offers one compelling explanation.
Dr. Dweck identifies two basic mindsets: growth and fixed.
The Growth Mindset
People with growth mindsets recognize that knowledge and skills arise from effort – they view intelligence and talent as products of work. They realize that our creative powers aren’t genetically preset because the neurons in our brains can continually make fresh connections.
Dr. Dweck finds that growth-mindset individuals tend to:
1. Enjoy challenges
2. Are undaunted, even motivated by setbacks
3. Seek advice and criticism
4. Regard errors as instructive
5. Employ diverse learning strategies
6. Bounce back from disappointments
7. Draw inspiration from the successes of others
“Our creative powers aren’t genetically preset because the neurons in our brains can continually make fresh connections.”
The Fixed Mindset
Individuals who harbor fixed mindsets believe, often unconsciously, that people’s abilities reflect their innate endowments. They might see themselves and others as either smart or dumb rather than acknowledging that skillfulness and intelligence are grown.
For instance, when fixed-mindset music students hear established artists perform, they might think, “They’re more talented than me. I could never do that.” Conversely, those with growth mindsets might inquire about the ways in which the artists acquired fluency and then apply what they learn in the practice room.
Dr. Dweck observes that fixed-mindset individuals tend to:
1. Shy away from challenges
2. Become easily frustrated
3. Seek praise rather than advice
4. Perceive errors as personal failures
5. Employ minimal learning strategies
6. Give up after being disappointed
7. Feel diminished by others’ successes
Mindsets in Action
Artists such as Branford Marsalis epitomize the growth mindset. Compared to them, people with fixed mindsets make for stark contrasts.
For example, check out this 1-minute video from 2008 of Mr. Marsalis speaking about his students. He claims that they only want to be told “how good they are and how talented they are” and that most of them “aren’t really willing to work.” (Note: Mr. Marsalis uses some pungent language, so I’m not embedding the video here.)
It seems that Mr. Marsalis’ students are fraught with the fixed mindset.
Do such students benefit from coaching to transform their mindsets? Dr. Dweck has proven as much.
The abovementioned video also conveys the pernicious nature of the fixed mindset. As Dr. Dweck makes clear, when students deem that ability is determined by allotments of talent rather than incrementally grown, they typically look for validation that they “have it” and fear that they might not.
In the case of music students, I’ve noticed that the fixed mindset also contributes to stage fright, partly because it “makes other people into judges instead of allies” (Mindset, p. 67).
“The fixed mindset also contributes to stage fright, partly because it ‘makes other people into judges instead of allies.'”
Fueling Growth
Given the anti-creative force of the fixed mindset, let’s foster the growth mindset in each other. Let’s affirm that every one us has the potential to enjoy lifelong creative development.
If, for instance, I hear students in one of my classes using fixed-mindset language – perhaps labeling someone as more or less talented – I consider it a “mindset emergency.”
“Every one us has the potential to enjoy lifelong creative development.”
I then engage the students in a discussion about the relationship between effort and attainment, pointing to models of renowned high-achievers, such as Mr. Marsalis, and their years of intense practice.
See my book The Musician’s Way for strategies that support the growth mindset and empower musicians to fearlessly pursue their dreams.
Here’s a video of Dr. Dweck summarizing her research:
Related posts
The abundance mentality
The big bag of experience
Countering perfectionism
Music: The practical career?
The self-motivated musician
*The quotation from Branford Marsalis that heads this post is extracted from a 1996 interview he gave for Ken Burns’ film entitled “Jazz.”
© 2010 Gerald Klickstein
Great stuff, John – thanks for contributing!
This isn’t a direct response to the Growth Mindset but is an interesting approach to motivating students and opening their eyes to possibilities.
These are notes from a recent lecture at the U. of Georgia. I think they apply to all musicians – students, teachers, and performers. David Zerkel teaches and plays tuba. He is an exceptional musician.
-jrb
Some suggestions on being an effective student of music
by David Zerkel on Monday, August 16, 2010 at 2:22pm
Here are my notes from a chat to the brass students at UGA on Day 1. A
top ten list of sorts… I hope they listened!
1. Take your classes seriously. Theory, Ear-training and Music History
provide you with the tools to understand the language of music and your
mastery of these subjects WILL help you play your instrument better. If
you have had a math course beyond algebra, music theory should present
no problems, as it is structured in a very systematic way. Ear-training
will help you learn what you need to hear, whether you are playing your
instrument or standing in front of a band. Music History will equip you
with the tools to approach your interpretations from informed
perspective and will give you the insight needed to play with style.
2. Listen to as much music as you can! Naxos online music library is a
great resource, as is our incredibly complete music library. A hard,
but not impossible, goal is to spend the same amount of hours listening
that you spend practicing. Listening to music and familiarizing
yourself with a broad spectrum of music is where your REAL musical
education will take place.
3. Learn and know your scales and arpeggios, as they are the building
blocks of western music. Realizing that virtually everything that you
play is constructed with scales and arpeggios will make mastering your
instrument exponentially easier.
4. Schedule your practice time as though it were a class and make
yourself a tough attendance policy. Success in music, like anything
else in life, is dependent upon disciplined and persistent effort. Hard
work will trump talent any day of the week. The world is filled with
incredibly talented people who never reached their potential because
they were lazy. It is the observation of the brass faculty that the
overall work ethic of the students in the school of music is quite lax
compared to other places that we have been. Each of you has the power
to reverse this condition that affects the culture of music here at
UGA. It is really cool to not suck… daily practice will help you to
appreciate your potential and your ability to improve.
5. Go to concerts! There is no substitution for listening to live
music—every performance you hear provides you with the opportunity to
learn something about your own performances. Whether you will teach or
perform, you will spend the rest of your life evaluating performances
and diagnosing the strengths and weaknesses of what you hear. You will
develop this skill much more quickly if you are going to concerts.
6. Embrace what technology has to offer us in developing as musicians.
Rhythm and Pitch are the two empirical truths in music— either they
are right or they are wrong. Don’t look as your metronome and tuner as
though they are nagging you that you are not good enough—learn to make
chamber music with your Dr. Beat and to look at your tuner as the
teller of truth. If you really want to use technology to improve your
performance skills, purchase a digital recorder such as a Zoom 2 (or
use Quicktime on your computer) to record your practice. This will help
you to become your own teacher. The greatest period of growth that I
have ever had as a developing musician happened when I was recording
and evaluating my practice on a daily basis.
7. Be curious! Strive to know the repertoire for your instrument.
Practice something everyday that is NOT part of your lesson assignment
for the week. Read ahead in an etude book or check out some music from
the library. This will help your sight-reading skills immeasurably.
Strive to be a comprehensive musician, not just a jock on your horn!
8. Play with your peers! Form a chamber music group or play duets with
a peer as much as you can. Chamber music empowers each of us to make
musical decisions without the input of a director, which is a critical
skill. Playing chamber music will also help grow your ears in a
dramatic way.
9. Be serious about your pursuit of excellence. Set the bar high and
work hard to be the best that you can be. Music is an extraordinarily
competitive field—remember that there is always someone somewhere that
is working harder than you are and someday you will meet them at the
audition or the interview. You owe it to yourself to be the best
musician that you can be. You will only be a great band director if you
are first a great musician.
10. Know that every great musician in the world still considers himself
or herself a student of music. Wynton Marsalis is a music student. Joe
Alessi is a music student, as is Gail Williams, Steven Mead and Oystein
Baadsvik . Make lifelong improvement and lifelong learning your goal. I
am not as good as I think I am and neither are you. The older I get,
the more I realize that I have only begun to scratch the surface of
what there is to know. Use this blessing of an opportunity that you
have as a full-time music student to your advantage. Your hard work
will pay off in the end!
I admire people who have a growth mindset. I’m scared by nature, so my first instict is defeat and envy. I am trying to fix that though, by being less daunted by criticism and taking it as positive as I can.
Terrific article, Noa. Thanks for the comment and for sharing the link.
Gerald,
What a funny coincidence – I just came across this book a couple months ago and have been recommending it as a must-read for parents. As the parent of two little ones myself, I’m beginning to realize how tricky it is to reinforce effort and other process variables when outcomes and achievements tend to be most salient to our natural (and perhaps cultural) results-driven mentality.
There’s another great article about this here, if your readers are interested in reading more: http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/
Such an important topic – glad to see it appear on your blog!
Thanks for raising this very important issue, Elissa, and for reminding us that, when we teach children, we also need to coach their parents.
I’ve worked with children in a typical suburban piano teaching practice over the past two decades, and even more important than the child’s mindset (in my experience and opinion) is the mindset of the parent. A five-year-old child whose parents believe that their achievements reflect who the child is rather than what the child has accomplished will grow into an adolescent who sees performance as an opportunity to fail rather than an opportunity to celebrate. Helping parents change their perceptions and language can (hopefully?) prevent children developing this ‘fixed’ mindset.
Good point, Gretchen.
As educators, we’re challenged to devise strategies that foster the growth mindset, even in students who’ve been clinging to fixed mindsets for years.
Discussions of principles helps, but it’s not enough. Nor does modeling suffice on its own. We have to create opportunities for students to experience growth – that is, to succeed again and again – and thereby believe in their ability to evolve without limit.
Hence, in my book and on this blog, I emphasize choosing accessible repertoire, pinpointing goals, and acquiring specific creative skills that ensure artistic success.
Hi Gerald,
This is a fascinating topic, because we have all encountered both mindsets. Figuring out how to work with the various attitudes toward “what it takes” can be very challenging!
Looking forward to your next post!
Gretchen