The traditional classical music mindset is one with a competitive lens. Trying to be “better” than the person sitting next to us is ingrained into us from early on in our musical training, especially in the world of classical concert music. The trouble is, that this can create a toxic environment, one that ultimately hurts us more than it helps us.
One little fact about me is that I am incredibly competition adverse. I’m not interested in “beating” anyone. I don’t want to be worried about trying to figure out how my work stacks up next to someone else–which is an impossible task when you’re dealing with something as subjective and arbitrary as music. Early on in my musical path, I found myself at a crossroads where I was scared to enter the music field because of that competition. I really loved making music, I loved playing with other people, I adored improvisation, but I felt that it was not worth the stress of trying to put another person down, or obsess over out-performing them.
It was this crisis that ultimately led me down the path of studying music composition. It was a route I could take where I could still be immersed in music but be free of the burden of competition, and instead focus on the art itself, and sharing it with others. On top of that, it was the musical subject I knew the least about… the most bang for my educational buck! Although I’m grateful that I started writing music, I’ve realized along the way that I couldn’t have been more wrong.
In the process of writing, playing, and working in a variety of musical positions, I’ve noticed that the concept of competition, true animosity or jealousy for one another, is manufactured and encouraged to keep us at odds with one another. How much more successful would we all be without it? How many incredible collaborations never occur out of the fear and apprehension created by competition? How much stronger and lucrative would our business be for the artists, rather than the corporations without it? It is never a necessity. Especially not in music.
Now your mind might be jumping to music competitions, auditions, and the myriad of other events which require us to compete for highly sought after positions. Yes, even in an audition, those other musicians you are “playing against” are not enemies, not rivals, they are simply other people just as passionate about their craft as you are. If you find yourself caught in the habit of considering them competitors, ask yourself, what good does that accomplish? You have no control over where they studied, the instrument they play on, or how well they’ll perform when their moment comes. The only thing you can control is your own performance. Remembering the fact that at the end of the day it is a performance–you are playing music–can be liberating.
I’ve been recently watching some content from Eliran Avni’s YouTube channel. He currently posts videos of his classes and interviews pertaining to the philosophy behind music. I highly recommend the videos to any musician! A recent subject of discussion has been the topic of creating prompts for motivation, and how our motivation in music should always be internally focused rather than external. By basing our motivation and goals on something we have control over, we’ll find they are profoundly more achievable! I’ll link to a recent insightful interview with Eva Cappelletti-Chao here:
Despite what we are taught, either from teachers or from ourselves, the competitive mindset has no utility in music. There is no circumstance in which it is helpful, and in fact, it often holds us back from accomplishing the most amazing work of our career. Rather than insisting on competing with my friends, I choose to collaborate with them. It’s much more fun anyways!
If the established world of music requires us to push down and excel over our colleagues, I want no part in it. So what if we just made our own? What if we gathered all our friends, existing and yet to meet, and created a new music world which was built around collaboration? What if we reached beyond the lot we each get in life and helped each other to find success? It’s something we could all start today.
The more people we get on board, the more people we get listening to and playing this wonderful art, the better it is for all of us. When you consider the fact that we’re all working for the betterment of the same industry, there’s suddenly no sense trying to compete. Collaborate with your friends, share each other's music, share your audiences, play each other’s music, these are all things that can only benefit your career, and they benefit others too. I know you want to, what's holding you back? Speaking of, if any of you have music you'd like me to discuss and write about, whether it's yours or a friends, feel free to send it my way ; ). Until next time, thank you for reading, and happy jamming!
2 Comments
Manny
10/12/2023 04:04:34 am
This is super insightful! Who are those cool quotes you highlighted from? Could you add their citation to the quotes :).
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Sean
10/12/2023 12:46:26 pm
Thanks so much for reading! The quotes are actually just main ideas pulled from the blog. Just a way to break up the text and make it easier to read!
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AuthorSean Penzo is a composer, cellist, and writer currently based in Pittsburgh, PA Archives
October 2024
CategoriesHeader photo by Peter Kleinau on Unsplash
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