"Grit
is that mix of passion, perserverance, and self-discipline that keeps
us moving forward in spite of obstacles. It's not flashy and that's
precisely the point. In a world in which we're frequentlly distracted by
sparkly displays of skill, grit makes the difference in the long run."
There's been a lot written in the past few years about the concept
of "grit" and it's importance—much of this comes from research by Angela
Duckworth of the University of Pennsylvania (and a winner of one of the
McArthur "genius grants)," who studied what made a difference in cadets
doing well in or just surviving the famed "Beast Barracks" training at
West Point. Beforehand, a brief test was given (you can find a version
of it here),
"questions that asked them to rate their own ability to stick to goals,
to be motivated by failure, and to persist in the face of obstacles."
Grit proved extraordinarily successful in predicting success (much more
so than intelligence and many other measures) and has also done well
predicing success in many other areas.
As Coyle says, "Grit isn't inborn. It's developed, like a muscle. .
." and it's a muscle that's important to develop in ourselves and in
our singers. The ability to persevere through learning challenging
music, complicated musical and vocal skills, to persist in what Coyle
calls, "deep practice," is what brings success.
If you find this interesting, a longer interview with Angela Duckworth is here. For a look at an opposing opinion, however, writer Alfie Kohn has a very good article questioning the concept of grit here.
What do you think? How important is it to success? If you believe
it is, how do you cultivate grit—perseverance to reach difficult
goals—in your singers/students?
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