And More about Ted on Teaching

“…when I first talk with a student, of course, I start by asking them what they want to learn (if they don’t tell me first).  If I have any doubts as to whether or not they love or need the particular thing they are asking for, I’ll ask them why they feel that they have to have it. Sometimes I discourage them from working on something they think they need when I have my strong doubts; usually in such a case, they really don’t love it, hell they don’t even want it, and they don’t need it either! They’ve been told by say, someone whom they want to respect, that they ‘need’ to ‘learn jazz’, or ‘you must have ‘classical as your foundation’ or ‘it all comes from the blues’…. Anyway, once we have figured out that their motives and goals are consistent with their own future happiness, then we proceed.”