In Whiplash, Miles Teller plays Andrew Neiman, a young aspiring jazz band drummer who struggles immensely achieve his best playing. Andrew, who is a first year student at a university in New York, faces an intense conductor among the name of Terrence Fletcher. Fletcher pushes his students beyond their expectations in hopes to make his students the best musicians they can possibly be. Although it's somewhat extreme, Fletcher throws chairs and slaps Andrew because he isn't playing the song "Whiplash" at the right tempo. In fact, one of Fletcher's students ends up hanging himself because he suffered from severe depression and anxiety after joining Fletcher's ensemble. The stress that is put on these students is insane and Andrew even goes through a time where he breaks up with his girlfriend because he thinks she is a possible distraction and practices until his hands bleed.
Although the stress that us music students in the School of Music is nowhere near as intense as this movie, we definitely still experience it. Fletcher's class is the complete opposite of a "nurturing and encouraging" environment to help the musician grow, but rather focuses on a "tough love" kind of feeling to push his students forward. I believe pushing a student to do their best is good to some extent and discipline plays a huge role in being a musician, but how much is too much?
I think it all depends on who you are. Some people can take open and blatant criticism, other can't. I remember all last year while taking sample lessons with oboe professors, I had a very interesting interaction with the oboe professor at Carnegie Mellon who is also the principle oboist of the pits burgh symphony. Right after I walked into her house for the lesson, she introduced herself and said to me "After this lesson I'll tell you whether you can make it as a music major". That definitely scared me and made me incredibly nervous. I know a lesson is a time for a professor to work with and judge students potential, but saying that to me scared me and also made me realize she is going to be the "tough love" kind of teacher, which is what I didn't want. In the end the lesson went really well, and she gave me her stamp of approval. In the end that comment really stuck with me and my regard for the school dropped.
ReplyDeleteSometimes teachers want to make students as nervous as possible to see how they work under pressure.
DeleteI think that having someone there to push you and tell you when you are wrong and support you when you are right is important. If we were just told all the time how great we were then we would achieve anything. We wouldn't grow and would just get stuck. Being told you are close but need to work on some things is such a better learning experience. However, I do think there is a line that has to be drawn. For example, this movie displays some harsh stuff that I personally think is too much. It also depends on who you are and what kind of personality you have. Some people can handle the criticism and some can't.
ReplyDeleteI saw this movie. While I do know back i the day jazz band directors have been known to be extremely aggressive, critical, and harsh. Nowadays, it is very, VERY rare, and quite humerus to see a director acting this way. It simply does not exist, and this movie does a hell of a job over exaggerating the jazz world in general.
ReplyDeleteOff that point, I think this directors method of teaching is disgusting. Fear, should not be the foundation of a teaching method. I believe it can be a part of a teaching method if used properly, however. I want to be pushed by my instructor, but I swear to God, if a chair is ever thrown at me, I think id react in one of these ways: 1, I would cry, and be extremely traumatized, or 2, I would get angry and throw a chair back. Both responses are not good.
I love the nurtured environment in this class. I'm waiting until later into the class to see the results and the skills carried over into other musicing to make judgement though.
I saw this movie as well, and let me tell you, it brought out a lot of emotions and feelings about being a musician in me. Right now I feel like I'm being pushed harder than I ever have been as a musician (although not nearly as bad as what is portrayed in the movie), so I really connected with the stress that Andrew displayed. It also had me thinking a lot about "what really is the best way to inspire someone to do their best?" I definitely think it's different for different people, but I've come to realize that for me, I certainly need to be pushed (otherwise I'd just watch Netflix and take naps all day), but if I feel like my teachers don't see anything positive in me at all, I'll lose motivation and want to give up. In general I think a good balance between "Good job!" and "Keep pushing yourself. You can do MORE!" is important to allow for the best success in life.
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