How to Grow As a Musician: What All Musicians Must Know to Succeed.(Book Review)

* How To Grow As a Musician: What All Musicians Must Know to Succeed, by Sheila Anderson. Allworth Press (10 E. 23rd St., Ste. 510, New York, NY 10010), 2005. 256 pp. $19.95.

Admittedly, I am somewhat of a "personal growth" junkie, so I opened How to Grow as a Musician: What All Musicians Must Know to Succeed with great anticipation. After all, I sat in graduate school asking questions no one wanted to answer, "What are we going to do with these degrees?" "Who is going to help us get work?" "What work is even available for a person with a masters in music performance?" and: "Why doesn't anyone want to talk about these things?" I still think the silence that greeted my inquiries was criminal. Students need to be taught how to negotiate their career possibilities as much as they need to be taught how to do Schenkerian analysis. Maybe this book has the answers.

The author, Sheila Anderson, has a background hosting jazz programs for radio and television and How to Grow As a Musician reads as an extended interview of numerous musicians. Divided into chapters such as "Learning One's Craft," "Is There Such a Thing as Too Much Practice?" "How to Promote and Present Yourself," "When and How to Record" and "Survival 101: From Sideman to Leader," I wondered what nuggets of wisdom I, a classical pianist, would glean. While these chapters did ...