Competition
Healthy and Unhealthy
In my mind there are only two forms of competition; healthy and unhealthy. The competition that I am referring to is the kind that can happen between two musicians that primarily play the same instrument. (i.e. Alto Sax). I am sure this can and does happen with people who do not perform on the same instrument but are involved with and around each other musically, such as getting the highest grade in a theory class, or being a 1 upper, where they must have something to counter your problem or comment. However, my main focus is on the competition between two or a group of people playing the same instrument.
First, is the aspect of healthy competition, where everyone goes home happy. Being a musician with the goal of being the best I can be, along with keeping the ideals of a healthy competitiveness between myself and fellow Saxophonist is something I strive for. Having that healthy relationship with your peers is a huge bonus, especially when it comes down to improving your own musicianship. Many of us do not realize that if we work together, we can all improve as a group.
Not only can healthy competitiveness drive us to work together it can also make us want to fight more as an individual. It can be the extra push we need to actually go to the music building and learn our on individual part. For example, if you were to hear someone practicing an etude and you thought the way they played it sounded cool, you could ask them how and why they chose to play it that particular way. By having that conversation, you would be looking into your personal performance and looking at a new way to improve it. Also with that conversation, you could spark a new way to practice, by having that person come and critique your playing and give suggestions on how to improve it.
With this outlook of healthy competition we can get the push we need to be recognized by our professors as someone who cares more about learning the music and sounding great as an ensemble, instead of focusing on who has the higher chair. If your professors notice this, you can be rewarded with a more complicated solo that will amaze yourself and others since you are expanding your musical skill, which will result in a much larger reward for yourself once you complete that particular movement or piece.
A grand result from having a healthy competitive outlook, is everyone one can walk away happy and as friends, instead of talking behind each others back about one another, and why or how you do it better. I personally see no reason why two people can not get along musically, at least. They may not agree with each others personal values or decisions, but working together is one way to overcome those differences and improve together. I feel many of us take for granted what working as a group can do for us individually.
Second, is the unfortunate characteristic of competition; unhealthy competition. This characteristic I feel is one we see a lot of, especially towards the end of our secondary school years, and at the beginning of and throughout our collegiate careers. It seems that occasionally freshman will enter college with the idea they are the best. They were the top saxophonist in their high school; they participated in district events and were 1st chair for everything their entire life. They put on a silly little Im the best grin when they are praised for doing some thing good. Then they come to college with an ego. I feel there is no room in a collegiate career for an ego of any size. Those people are the people I try not to associate myself with. Actually, I try to prove them wrong, go against them to show them they are not the best, that there will always be someone out there who is better than they. No matter how many times you try to communicate to these people that they need to get over themselves, they take offense to it and only seem to want to talk harshly about you behind your back. By having this happen, there will be a strain in any chance of there being a potential friendship or a partnership musically.
It also seems that people who do walk around with an ego trip seem to only have one question on their mind; How do I beat so and so. That is their goal. They dont focus on their musicianship as a whole, or on their individual progress. By only focusing on how to beat someone, they can really hold themselves back because they then begin to pick at everything you do wrong and how they can do it better.
Not only does this unhealthy competitiveness affect the person with the ego, but it also affects the person who tries to focus more on the healthy side of competing. This I know from personal experience. I was never the best in high school, I didnt always have 1st chair positions and I definitely didnt allow myself to think I am above others. When I first met the person whom I felt had an unhealthy attitude on competition, I found myself wondering why people acted in such a way. As I began to work along with that person, I found that all that was wanted was to be the best, and be praised by everyone for every little thing done correctly. With that observation, I began practicing harder to show myself as well as that overly competitive person that hard work goes a long way, and your sight reading skills can only help you out for so long. I was and still am proud of myself for channeling the unhealthy competitive energy into healthy competitive energy to improve myself.
As time has gone on, I find it harder to focus more on the healthy side of competition because of the unhealthy aspects I have to deal with. I fight more with myself when I sit down to listen to a saxophonist and then feel myself saying, I can do that better. Its comments like that that make me feel my musicianship is weak. I suppose I could say something along the lines of, Being a musician isnt being the best. Being a musician is realizing you are not the best. An outlook of healthy competition can produce advanced musicians who care more about the music than who is better than they.