VSMTC - Student Spotlight! Leah

Every so often, as a teacher, you get a student who reminds you why you teach.

For me, Leah is one of those students.

She’s 17 and already has a CV that would make the most proactive adults feel unproductive.

- She’s a ballet dancer.
- A gifted singer.
- An excellent pianist.
- An actor in feature films.
- And a bloody excellent drummer.

What’s always blown me away is the work Leah puts in between lessons. That’s what makes her a top student!

Despite being good at an awful lot of things, she’s never had teh miindset that being good means she’s finished learning.

She still turns up for singing lessons. Piano lessons. Drum lessons.

Because getting good at something isn’t the end of education.

If anything, it’s when education gets interesting.

This summer, Leah travelled to Boston to attend a course at Berklee College of Music, putting herself thousands of miles from home and among serious young musicians.

Back in Scotland, she’s joined Cambuslang Pipe Band to develop her stick control and has been selected for the South Lanarkshire Rock Collective — more opportunities to play, learn and get better.

And now Guildhall School of Music & Drama have invited her onto their mentorship programme.

She’s been paired with jazz mentor Adam Osmianski, who’ll work with her over the coming year towards a Guildhall audition, alongside support with theory and composition.

I’m personally rather excited about this bit too.

I play jazz to a mediocre level at best. ? So I’m delighted Leah is going to work with someone who can develop her jazz chops and take her into territory I can’t.

And, selfishly, I can’t wait to see what she brings back to our drum lessons.

When the tutor becomes the student. ?

And that’s how music should work. Students learn from other teachers. Teachers learn from students. Musicians learn from musicians.

#YouNeverStopLearning

And I think there’s a lesson in Leah’s story:

You don’t have to be ready yet.

Put yourself forward. Walk into rooms where people are better than you. Play with different musicians. Take the lesson. Do the boring exercises. Accept criticism.

Put yourself out your comfort zone!

And when somebody tells you you’re not quite there yet, don’t hear no when what they’ve actually said is just not yet.

There’s one other important part of Leah’s story.

Behind all of this is an enormous amount of support from her mum and dad — giving her the opportunities, encouragement - and a heroic number of lifts that allow her to do it.

Talent matters. Teachers matter. Opportunities matter.

But so do the people at home who quietly make them possible.

As Leah’s drum tutor, I’m incredibly proud of what she’s already achieved.

But I’m probably even more excited about what she hasn’t achieved yet.

At 17, she’s already learned something that takes some musicians decades to figure out:

You never really finish learning.

Keep working. Keep listening. Keep getting uncomfortable.

It’s remarkable where it can take you.