Opinion: How teachers can help students deal with feelings of futility and despair

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Many dedicated music students and professionals are familiar with the feelings of futility, even despair, that occur when we compare our musical abilities with those of the greatest of talents. Even Shin’ichi Suzuki himself, in his book Nurtured by Love (1969), describes this tortured feeling as something quite normal for the dedicated young musician:

‘To hear the famous Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, filled with so many excellent players, affected me adversely and made me even more miserable and helpless… I felt that I had no ability, and wanted to die. This kind of feeling more or less afflicts every young person, especially those who want to embrace art closely.’