No Stickers

Yes, it is extremely potent.  Awareness.

One of my students has struggled to love the cello as much as her parents would like her to.  But she has continued for some mix of reasons.  Today she got a new instrument and it rings so beautifully.  Before I put on stickers for where her fingers should go, I had her guess and play a scale.  And it was fine, no problem.  She was still looking at her finger though.  So I suggested playing French Folk Song with her eyes closed.  And then I got to watch her bask in the sound of her cello, not worrying about the right or wrongness of her fingers.  She found she could even make a shift to second position without the stickers.

Before awareness comes trust, and another person--an adult, a child, a teacher, a student, a peer, a friend--can be a wonderful, though not the only, source to start that feeling.  With trust we can allow ourselves to have the vulnerability that allows us to admit we are unaware.  And being aware of being unaware is the best way to open ourselves to awareness.  I'm not sure if there is another way.

But trust is first, I think.  Sometimes we are aware before trust and that can be hurtful.  Something to remember in teaching as we set to correct.